Wind farms found harmless for tourism
Posted on: March 31st, 2008 by Emma YoungWind farms found harmless for tourism
Exploiting the renewable energy potential of Scotland will not have any significant impact on the expansion of the tourism industry. This is according to a study published recently.
About seventy five per cent of the tourists interview said wind farms had a positive or neutral impact on the landscape. Ninety seven per cent of the tourists interviewed admitted that wind farms would not stop them from visiting Scotland again.
Widespread development of wind farms would cause a projected decrease in revenue growth of 0.18 per cent of tourist spending by the year 2015. This is equivalent to 7.6 million pounds of expenditure compared to present tourism revenues of 4.2 billion pounds.
Jim Mather, the Enterprise, Energy and Tourism Minister said that the research confirmed that the government’s ambitious goals on tourism and renewable energy could go hand in hand without one affecting the other negatively. The minister argued that exploiting the potential of renewable sources of energy while raising the tourism revenue would ensure sustainable economic growth throughout Scotland.
The minister also disclosed that the government wants to make Scotland the green energy capital of Europe. The target of the Scottish Government is to have half of the electricity coming from renewables sources of energy by the year 2020 while increasing tourism revenues by fifty per cent by 2015.
Commissioning of the study took place in the April of 2007 and was charged with the task of investigating the effects of wind farms on the tourism sector in Scotland.
