Holidaymakers not discouraged by windfarms: Report

Holidaymakers are not discouraged from visiting places by wind farms, according to new research, which busts the myth that the sight of turbines on the horizon damaged tourism.

According to a report by economic consultants, the onshore wind industry in Scotland had expanded dramatically in recent years, from 2 GW of capacity in 2009 to 4.9GW in 2014. In the same period, the number of jobs in ''sustainable'' tourism grew by over 10 per cent.

However, while this suggested that both sectors could ''co-exist and grow'', researchers decided to look more closely at the local effects of the construction  of a new wind farm on 18 different places across Scotland.

They found that across 15 of the 18 locations, sustainable tourism employment had increased by more than the Scottish average despite the appearance of turbines.

They also pointed to a survey of 380 tourists in Caithness and Sutherland, Stirling, Perth and Kinross, the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway by Glasgow Caledonian University.

Of those, 75 per cent felt wind farms had a positive or neutral effect on the landscape and only four people, 2 per cent of those who had seen turbines, said it would affect their decision to visit the area again.

The research, published by BiGGAR Economics, considered 18 wind farm sites across Scotland and the number of people employed in tourism in the local area before and after they were developed.

The study found that some of the local authority areas with the greatest growth in tourism employment also saw the greatest increase in onshore wind installations.

The findings of the report run counter to the criticisms of windfarms, which are blamed for driving down tourism. Windfarms had been criticised by Mountaineering Council of Scotland and, more recently, Outlander author Diana Gabaldon.

Gabaldon had earlier voiced objections against a planned wind farm near Loch Rannoch, which was the venue for a television adaptation of her popular novels.