Offshore wind farms in the Mediteranean seascape: a tourist appeal or a tourist repellent

In the run-up to a governmental invitation to tender for the construction offshore wind farms in the Languedoc Rousillon, coastal municipalities have been voicing fear about their potential impact on the tourist industry. To understand how offshore wind farms may affect tourism, we conducted a choice experiment with coastal tourists in Languedoc Rousillon. We elicited willingness to pay and willingness to accept compensation for wind turbines at different distances from the shore and examined whether potential visual nuisances may be compensated by associating the wind farm with recreational opportunities (observational boating, diving at artificial reefs and turbine foundations) or by adopting a coherent environmental policy. We show that the compensation required for the visual nuisance depends on the age segment of the tourists, their nationality, their vacation activities and their degree of loyalty to Languedoc Rousillon coastal community resorts. Our policy recommendation is two-fold: Everything else equals, wind farm implantation 12 km offshore is preferable from the viewpoint of favouring the tourist industry. With simultaneous application of a coherent environmental policy and wind farm associated recreational activities, a wind farm can be conceived from 5 km and outwards without a loss in tourist revenues