Wind farms and the rural tourism experience – problem or possible productive integration? The views of visitors and residents of a Portuguese village

Abstract

Wind energy is recognized as a relevant alternative and renewable energy source, frequently exploited in rural areas, and potentially competing for land and resources with rural tourism. This study reviews the growing but limited research literature on the interactions between wind farms and rural tourism. Using results from a Portuguese village case study, it presents new and often complex insights regarding the potential impacts of these structures on the tourist experience, giving new understanding of the impact of wind farms on a rural tourism destination from the viewpoint of both visitors and residents who actively participate in experience co-creation and are directly affected by investment in both tourism and wind energy, with comparisons between national and international visitors, and between visitors and residents. Possible managerial actions of universal relevance are discussed, exploring the potential for integrating tourism with wind energy production, including tourism-research-related guidelines for wind farm planners, quality and market-targeted information and interpretation development, and efforts to include wind farms in tourist experience planning such as guided tours and event creation. More research is needed to promote wind farms as “green destinations”, capable of attracting a growing number of environmentally concerned visitors.

风力发电场和乡村旅游的经验 - 问题或可能的生产一体化？来自葡萄牙村庄的游客和居民的观点

风力发电是公认的可再生能源的相关替代物，被频频利用在农村地区，而乡村旅游业存在着对土地和资源的潜在竞争。这项研究回顾了风电场和乡村旅游业之间增长但有限的相互作用的研究文献。运用葡萄牙村庄案例研究的结果，它提出了对旅游体验结构的潜在影响的新颖但往往是复杂的见解，通过对国际国内游客以及游客和居民的比较，从游客和居民的视角提供了对风电场影响的一种新的理解，他们积极参与体验共同创作，并直接受投资旅游业和风能的影响。本文对普遍相关性的可能管理措施进行了讨论，探索了结合旅游业和风力能源生产的潜在影响，包括与旅游研究相关风电场规划的指导原则，质量和市场为对象的信息和解释的开发，并努力包括风电场旅游体验计划例如导游和事件创造。更多的研究都被看作是需要促进作为“绿色目标”的风电场的建设，能够吸引越来越多的关注环境的游客。

Keywords:

• rural tourism
• tourist experience
• attitudes
• wind farms
• renewable energies
• qualitative study

关键词:

• 乡村旅游业
• 旅游体验
• 态度
• 风力发电场
• 可再生能源，定性研究

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the respondents for their collaboration and also the members of the interviewers' team for their dedication (Joana Lima, Mariana Carvalho, Anke Holstein).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. ORTE stands for “The overall rural tourism experience and sustainable local community development”.

2. WebQDA was developed at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and stands for “Web Qualitative Data Analysis”.

Additional information

Funding

This study was produced in the context of the ORTE¹ research project. This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (co-financed by COMPETE, QREN and FEDER), [grant number PTDC/CSGEO/104894/2008].

Notes on contributors

Ana João Gaspar de Sousa

Ana João Gaspar de Sousa holds a degree in biology and a master's in tourism management and planning from the University of Aveiro (Portugal). She was a research assistant in the ORTE Project (“The overall rural tourism experience and sustainable local community development”), coordinated by Elisabeth Kastenholz. Her research interests include sustainable destination development, the tourism experience, rural tourism, tourism attractions and tourism management.

Elisabeth Kastenholz

Elisabeth Kastenholz is an associate professor in the Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering at the University of Aveiro (Portugal), a researcher at the GOVCOPP (Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies) Research Unit and the coordinator of the ORTE project. She holds a degree in tourism management and planning, an MBA degree and a PhD degree in tourism. Her research focuses on rural tourism, consumer behavior in tourism, the overall tourism experience, destination marketing and sustainable destination development.