Islandcommunities are facing a "significant loss" in revenue from visitors, tourists bosses have warned as industrial action action by CalMac workers enters its second day.
Hospitality traders on Colonsay complained that holidaymakers had abandoned the island yesterday as the disruption to ferry services began, and it will be left without any sailings today or tomorrow.
Members of the RMT union - who account for around half of CalMac's workforce - refused to work overtime yesterday and today and will stage a walkout tomorrow which is expected to cause severe disruption to the network.
The Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) said it expected tourism businesses across the Highlands and Islands to suffer a "significant loss of revenue" as a result.
Marc Crothall, chief executive of the STA, said: "It's not just holidaymakers that are heading to the islands this week. There are many weddings and events scheduled to take place across all of the destinations over the coming days that will now be impacted by the strike. No doubt there will be a further knock on effect of this disruption in the coming weeks."
The crews wanted a guarantee that there will be no job cuts or changes to pay and pensions after the company's routes were opened to competitive tender.
Private firm Serco is bidding against incumbent CalMac Ferries Ltd for the new contract, which will begin in October 2016 and could last up to eight years.
The Scottish Government said it was obliged to undertake the tendering process in line with European rules.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said members were "caught in the crossfire of an unnecessary and damaging tendering battle".
Christa Byrne, who runs self catering houses and a book shop on the Colonsay, which has a population of 130, said: "All my guests have left, their holiday curtailed by two days.
"People have had to leave their self catering accommodation and go home on the ferry because there is nothing today or Friday and the Saturday ferry, from Islay to Colonsay to Oban and back, is fully booked."
Gavin Clark, who runs The Pantry restaurant on the island, added: "This is going to have a massive impact on us.
"We had 20 booked for dinner [on Wednesday night] and 17 of them cancelled. I have ordered food and fresh fish in, so it's going to be a massive loss for us, we are having to send staff home."
Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said: "Considerable effort is being invested into putting on additional services where possible."
A CalMac spokesman said: "We have tried very hard to protect services as much as possible and at this stage we are confident that around 90 per cent of services will be running as normal. Unfortunately some services will be affected and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."
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