Tourism 'not harmed by wind farms'

Four out of five people have said wind farms do not affect their decisions over where to holiday in the UK.

The same survey also found that more than half of people did not agree that the turbines spoiled the look of the UK or Scottish countryside. The research, carried out for tourism body VisitScotland, was published the day before US tycoon Donald Trump takes his fight against wind farms to the Scottish Parliament.

The American businessman has already warned that wind farms could "completely end" tourism in Scotland and the country is "in effect committing financial suicide". Mr Trump is due to give evidence on the issue to Holyrood's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee on Wednesday.

However, the findings of the VisitScotland research appeared to contradict his views. A total of 80% of people in the UK - and 83% 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% of people in both Scotland and across the UK disagreed, with a further 29.3% of people in the UK and 28.3% of Scots saying they neither agreed or disagreed. Only 18.7% of people in the UK and 19.6% of Scots surveyed agreed that wind farms did spoil the look of the countryside.

Meanwhile, almost half of Scots - 46% - said they would be interested in visiting a wind farm development if it had a visitor centre, with 40% of UK respondents having the same opinion.

Energy and tourism minister Fergus Ewing said: "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 - the vast, but too often silent, majority have said that wind farms simply do not affect their decision-making."

Mr Ewing went on: "Scotland has vast natural resources and huge renewable energy potential, and we have a responsibility to ensure the people of Scotland benefit. These figures show that it is possible both to enjoy Scotland's stunning natural beauty and to benefit from the potential of renewable energy."

VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: "We are both reassured and encouraged by the findings of this survey which suggest that, at the current time, the overwhelming majority of consumers do not feel wind farms spoil the look of the countryside."

The survey comes a week after figures showed tourism in Scotland had increased by 9% between 2010 and 2011, with money spent by visitors up 14%.

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