Study on the impact of wind turbines on tourism demand

windTogether with Christoph Alfken I conducted a study on the impact of wind turbines on tourism demand in German municipalities. It is entitled: Gone with the wind? The impact of wind turbines on tourism demand. The study is accepted for publication in the journal Energy Policy, a working paper version can be downloaded here.

Abstract

While wind energy production is relatively free from environmental externalities such as air pollution, it is frequently considered to negatively impact landscapes’ visual aesthetic values, thereby inducing negative effects on tourism demand. Existing evidence for Germany indeed points towards a negative relationship between tourism demand and wind turbine construction. However, the existing studies primarily rely on interview data and simple bivariate statistics. In contrast, the analysis makes use of secondary statistics on tourism and wind turbine locations at the level of German municipalities. Using spatial panel regression techniques, the study confirms a negative relation between wind turbines around municipalities and tourism demand for municipalities not located near the coast. In the latter regions, the relation between wind turbines and tourism demand is more complex.