Frantal, B.*,Kallabova E., Kunc, J.

Masaryk University (Brno, Czech Rep.), Faculty of Science, Dept. of Geography, * PhD student, study program Regional geography

Scientific leader: Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Vaclav Tousek, CSc.

THE «WIND TOURISM» IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC: SITUATION AND PROSPECTS

I. Introduction. Asthe term «wind tourism» we regard a tourism related to (i) the technicallandmarks connected with the wind energy exploitation in the history /windmills, wind pumps, etc./ (ii) the tourist attendance at localities withfunctioning modern wind-power plants.

The historic wind mills are nowadays generally regarded as symbols ofthe past considerate human approach being regardful and sustainable to thenature and today’s obvious tourist attraction (e.g. the historic wind mills inthe Netherlands have been listed in UNESCO heritage), whereas the modern windturbines (hereafter WT) are often presented as alien structures. Nowadays theCzech Republic (hereafter CR) passes through a new wind power boom. New parks of WR were built in more thanthirty localities during the last decade. However the perception of WRstill controversial and the opponents argue with a damage of visualattractiveness of affected areas (landscape character) and a decline of tourismpotential. Still there (especially inEast-Central Europe) are very few researches dealing with the issue, so thereis a space for speculations and often exaggerated fears.

The aim of the issue is a brief evaluation of twodifferent forms of wind power exploitation in the context of cultural landscapeperception and tourism potential. The research consisted of two mutually linkedparts: historical document analysis and questionnaire survey with tourists andvisitors of two recreational areas in the CR.

II. Wind Power exploitationin the Czech republic. The diffusion of windmills in the area of CR has been influenced by either dry periods or floods especially.The dominant localization factor were the natural prerequisites, especially thecombination of unsuitable hydrological conditions and sufficient wind potentialalong with good travel accessibility and short distance from the settlement.The most ancient wind mill in the Czech lands is dated to the 10^thcentury according to the newest archeological research; the historical sourcesindicate 900 localities with wind mills and suppose more than 1000 ones in fact(Burian 1965, Pokorný 1973). There 78 wind mills from the 18^{th -} 19^thcentury were preserved up to this day, 51 of which are legislatively protectedas immovable relics (monuments of the technique history).

Amodern development of the wind energy in the CR is characterized by two periods.The first stage (1990-1995) has been launched by the dynamic boom of windenergy sector in Denmark and neighboring Germany. This era was distinguished byfacts that effected in a stagnation of wind industry for years and caused thepositive perception of wind energy has been rather deteriorated: (a) lack ofcompetent legislature, (b) the home-made turbines that did not come throughtestimonial process were faulty, (c) the constructions were often situated inwrong localities with insufficient wind potential, (d) the low redemptionprices were not longer profitable (Štekl,2006). A new era of wind powerdevelopment begins in 2001 (with legislatively guaranteed subsidized redemptionprices of wind energy) and from 2005 (the «Act on Promotion of Use of Renewable Sources» that declared ashare of 8 % of electric production gained from the renewable sources until2010).

Whilein the past the construction of wind mills was bound entirely to suitable conditionsfor future working, in the present the realization of projects of wind powerplants is determined not just by suitable natural conditions but rather bylimit factors and restrictions. The main localization prerequisites of today’swind turbines are sufficient wind potential together with the absence ofspatial limit factors (prohibited areas are e.g. built-up areas, forestedareas, zones along routes and water sources, buffer zones of airports andmilitary radars, national parks and protected landscape areas, Natura2000´s zones, birds corridors, etc.).

Fig. 1: Wind power plants and wind mills in the CzechRepublic

The modern wind turbines with (over 100 meters high) decide about afundamental change of the landscape character, especially its visual form. Theyare new social-spatial and landscape-composing objects. The visibility ofturbines itself is generally regarded as negative. In this respect there anideal area does not exist but only more or less suitable (acceptable) ones. Most of the area of the CR does not haveneither alpine terrain or seashore (as have the European tourism leaders asAustria, Switzerland, Spain or Croatia) and is therefore an example of acountry where the prerequisites for tourism lie within various types of ruralcountryside and where the diversity of the landscape is also made up by thearchitectural elements connected with the historical and cultural traditions(Vystoupil et al., 2007). In many areas of typical rural and culturallandscape, the construction of a new dominant feature (not just a wind turbine,but also an observation tower, a high-rise building, a factory, etc.) is a boneof contention for the developer, the politicians, residents and environmentalists.However the surveys of public acceptance (Frantál et al., 2008) provedthat most people support the wind power development and the presence of windturbines in recreational landscapes does not disturb a perception of theplace’s attractiveness and destination preferences.

III. Wind power and tourism. There are still a very limited number of empirical studies dealing withthe relation of wind turbines and tourism. The reasons are of both subjectiveand objective character. In many countries where there is a high level ofsupport of clean energetic sources (Denmark, Germany etc.), the question oftheir possible negative influence on tourism is not dealt with to such a greatextent, on the contrary they are effectively used in marketing support of tourism.Objective reasons are related to problem of the validity of research, or withthe difficulty (even impossibility) of measuring the direct effects of WT ontourism, which represents a complex sector with number of independent factorsthat act upon one another. Tourism as a branch of economy is influenced by agreat deal of factors (social situation within the country, the value of localcurrency and the purchasing power of its inhabitants, extended options oftraveling abroad, the changing prices of fuels, seasonal variations of weather,fashion trends etc.); all these factors develop relatively independently of theconstruction of WT in given locations.

A possible means of research seems to be only an indirect assessment ofthe effects (or assessment of preferences and tendencies towards a change inthe current behavior) via various questionnaires or interviews with visitors,tourists or the general public, via inquiries with the representatives ofbusiness subjects in the sphere of tourism and affiliated services,representatives of local administration etc. Such research was carried out forexample in Scotland and Wales (MORI, 2002).

The area of biggest wind tourism potential in the CR is the eastern partof the land (Moravia) and the north-western borderline of Krušnéhory (Ore Mountains) which is an area afflicted by opencast coal-mining. Theselocalities dispose of the most of preserved wind mills and are attractive forthe wind power plants installations at the same time.  Many of the preserved wind mills serve asmuseums or they have been re-constructed and are used as restaurants orpensions. The information boards and guide signs are put in the localities withwind turbines informing about the technology of wind industry in the context ofglobal environmental protection and the like. Some turbines serve asinformation or ecological education centers, destinations of nature trails oreven observation towers. In 2006 the first national open-door’s day of windpower plans in which over 3500 visitors participated. As the «best practices»of wind tourism can be mentioned the municipality Jindřichovice pod Smrkemwith ecological information centre presenting a combination of visits both inthe historic windmill’s exposition and excursion into the moder wind powerplant.  A Moravian case being worthwhileis a cycling track called «Tracing the marks of wind and water energy» whichrevives and connects the places of selected preserved and extinct wind andwater mills. However the wind tourism is not just a domain of nowadays. Thanksto the iconography we can see the original building of wind mill inBudišov municipality (the Vysočina Region) was already from the breakof the 19^th/20^th century utilized as an observationtower.

Thefollowing table presents selected results from questionnaire survey with 150tourists made in the summer of 2008 by authors in two recreational localitieswith both existing and planned windpark (Frantál, et al., 2008).  

IV. Conclusion. Thedevelopment of wind energetic (as well as other energy industries) has broughtsome negative impacts on the landscape. But in contrast to the traditionalsources of energy the WT do not produce any waste and they are only temporaryconstructions (after their lifespan expires, they can be easily taken apart andrecycled). Moreover, real cases from CR and abroad (BWEA, 2006) show that windfarms (as well as historic wind mills) can attract tourists (informationcentres, destinations of nature trails or observation towers) and together withsuitable marketing promotion can contribute to the development of new forms oftourism («green tourism» or «turbine bagging»). The WT are by the most ofpublic perceived as symbols of ecologically oriented development and contributeto more positive images of municipalities and locations. Yet, theattractiveness of wind tourism can keep going just in the case if the landscapewill not be overfilled with the turbines and so degraded.

Table 1   The tourists´ attitudes towards windturbines, %

Fig. 2   Examples of «wind tourism» (from left:family-owned wind-mill museum, logo of the

«mill cycling trail», excursion in modern wind turbines)

References

1. BWEA (2006): The impact of winds farms on thetourist industry in the UK [online]. British Wind Energy association, URL:<http://www.bwea.com/pdf/tourism.pdf>

2. Burian, V.(1965): Větrné mlýny na Moravě a ve Slezsku. In:Práce odboru společenských vědVlastivědného ústavu v Olomouci, 7, 79 p.

3. Frantál, B., Cetkovský, S.,Kunc, J. (2008): Vliv větrných elektráren na percepcikrajiny a životního prostředí. In: Životnéprostredie, 42 (6), p. 307-312.

4. MORI (2002): Tourist Attitudes towards Wind Farms[online]. MORI Scotland, URL: <http://www.bwea.com/pdf/MORI.pdf>

5. Pokorný,O. (1973): Soupis a lokalizace větrných mlýnův Čechách. In: Studia geographica 18, Brno: Geografickýústav ČSAV, 179 p.

6. Štekl, J. (2006): Větrný potenciál a větrná energetika naúzemí ČR. In: Sborník příspěvků z konferenceČK CIRED, Tábor, p. 1-6

7. Vystoupil, J. et al.(2007): Návrh nové rajonizacecestovního ruchu ČR. Brno: Masarykova univerzita,106 p.