Energy Landscape "Grimsel" as perceived by Tourists

The Grimsel landscape is an energy landscape characterized by reservoirs, dams and power plants. Do visitors like this landscape (yet)? And how would the landscape be assessed if the proposed enlargement of the Grimsel lake with a dam increase to 27m was implemented some day? To answer such questions, 1229 visitors of the Grimsel area were interviewed in summer 2012 using a standardized questionnaire.

The main findings showed that large majority of the visitors really like the Grimsel-landscape. Therefore, they intend to visit the Grimsel region in the future again. And a big reason for this is the quality of the landscape. The landscape would please the visitors even then, if the Grimsel lake would be actually increased, albeit slightly less well. How much they perceive the increase as a loss depends – among other factors such as the overall environmental value systems – from the previous visit rate. i.e., those who have already often visited the Grimsel region, likes the scenery there especially, however, would like it to remain as it is. This is a challenge for the tourism of the region and the power plant operator – who represents the most important tourism provider – because the regulars come back very often, because they like the scenery.