April 25, 2012
Scotland
Scotland
Holiday plans affected by windfarms
www.scotsman.com 25 April 2012
A fifth of people have said wind farms affected their decisions over where to holiday in the UK, according to a new survey, but more than half did not agree that the turbines spoiled the look of the countryside.
The research, carried out for VisitScotland, was published the day before US tycoon Donald Trump takes his fight against wind farms to the Scottish Parliament.
A total of 80 per cent of people in the UK – and 83 per cent of Scots surveyed – said the presence of a wind farm would not affect their decision about where to stay when on a holiday or short break in Britain.
When asked if wind farms spoiled the look of the countryside, 52.1 per cent of people in both Scotland and across the UK disagreed, with a further 29.3 per cent in the UK and 28.3 per cent of Scots saying they neither agreed nor disagreed.
Only 18.7 per cent in the UK and 19.6 per cent of Scots said wind farms did spoil the look of the countryside.
Almost half of Scots said they would be interested in visiting a wind farm development if it had a visitor centre.
Energy and tourism minister Fergus Ewing said: “These figures prove what we have long known – that the vast majority of visitors to Scotland do not see wind farms as a problem.
“Four in five visitors say their decision to come to Scotland would not be affected by wind farms.”
He added: “These figures show that those who speak out against the impact of wind turbines on the landscape do not represent the vast majority of Scots, or of potential visitors from within the UK.”
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/04/25/holiday-plans-affected-by-windfarms/