FERRY giant CalMac is worth £270 million to the Scottish economy according to a major new study highlighting its value to rural and island communities.

The report by the highly respected Fraser of Allander Institute will be unveiled today at the second annual Scottish Transport Conference in Edinburgh, where Transport Minister Derek Mackay is the keynote speaker.

The report finds the ferry and port operator supports a total turnover of nearly £270 million in companies across Scotland. The figure is calculated as a combination of the jobs and wages supported by CalMac's own spending, and the jobs it enables on Scottish islands by transporting the tourists which enables other businesses to thrive.

It estimates the state-owned ferry operator enables 3,247 jobs and £53.4m worth of wages in Scotland's island tourism industry.

It also confirms that CalMac, one of the largest companies headquartered in Scotland and the UK's largest ferry network operator, employs 1476 people and supports a total of 5883 jobs in mainland and island communities across the country. It also carried 4.6 million passengers in 2014 and was the main channel of support for commercial activity on the islands, transporting 92,734 commercial vehicles between the mainland and the islands in 2014.

Stewart Dunlop, the researcher who compiled the report, said: "The results demonstrate that the company's activity in transporting tourists to the islands has a very considerable effect on the local tourism industry.

"CalMac is clearly the key channel of support for commercial activity on the islands it serves.

"Items exported from the islands include food and drink products, notably high value exports such as whisky and shellfish, both of which contribute significantly to total Scottish exports.

"In terms of imports, CalMac's activity covers the majority of items sold by local retailers, including fuel, food, mail, medical supplies, oil, gas, and utilities, without which it would be difficult to maintain an acceptable quality of life on the islands."

Average wages at CalMac are 12 per cent higher than the average wage in Scotland, according to the report.

The operator is a major employer in Argyll and Bute, the Western Isles, Inverclyde and the Highlands, with a combined workforce of 782 across these four regions and a total annual wages bill of £26m in these areas alone - an average of £33,248.

Salaries across its entire Scottish workforce cost the company £41m, meaning that a typical CalMac employee earns £27,778 a year.

Martin Dorchester, managing director of CalMac Ferries Ltd, said: "The Fraser of Allander's report outlines in detail the extent of the contribution which CalMac's people and operations make to Scotland's economy across all these key areas.

"As we move forward, our ambition is to further enhance our support for the communities we serve and continue our investment in customer service."