TENS of thousands of Americans have been advised to put their Scottish travel plans on hold amid confusion over one of the key events in what the SNP hopes will be a national showcase year in 2014.

The US Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (Cosca) raised a "caution flag" over what it believes are conflicting reports on events surrounding the second "year of homecoming".

The council has warned it could take over the event and postpone it for another year, given its "ever shortening timeline".

In an email to its 60,000 members, headed New Confusion Surrounding 2014, Cosca president Susan McIntosh said it would be "prudent to put plans for travelling to Scotland in 2014 on hold until we gain better clarity about what is and is not going to happen".

The absence of US visitors would deliver a double blow to the Scottish Government's tourism drive and its bid to turn 2014 into a year of celebration leading up to the independence referendum.

Scottish tour operators have already seen trips to Scotland cancelled, raising the prospect of the service industry's hotels and bars missing out on thousands of pounds of vital income.

The council had hoped that events would include a "clan village and parade" in Stirling as part of the celebrations but it was reported last week that no such event will feature.

The homecoming event has now apparently been scaled back, but the Scottish Government has since contacted Cosca to offer assurances that a clan village is part of the plan with work under way on a parade.

While the strength of the event remains in doubt, the US clan associations have advised their members to postpone making travel plans.

The Cosca email states: "At this point, it is certainly fair to say that it would probably be prudent to put plans for travelling to Scotland in 2014 on hold until we gain better clarity about what is and is not going to happen in 2014.

"Of course we know that Scotland's 2nd Year of Homecoming will offer many fine opportunities for visitors, from the Ryder Cup to the Commonwealth Games.

"Additionally, we do still expect several smaller regional clan and diaspora-based events to materialise – eventually. At present, however, the fate of any sort of unified clan Gathering occurring in 2014 is, at best, unclear."

In further embarrassment for the Government, the clan council has threatened to seize control of the event and postpone it for a year.

Ms McIntosh told members: "Given the ever-shortening timeline remaining before 2014 and the difficulty in making progress, it may well be that a second Gathering will not occur until 2015.

"It is more important to do it right than to do it in 2014."

The confusion over the 2014 event follows controversy surrounding the original 2009 Gathering, with the Scottish Government lending a private company £180,000 interest free, without making "robust checks" just months before it went bust.

Audit Scotland criticised the move after it emerged The Gathering 2009 Ltd folded after receiving a total of £670,500 in public grants and loans. Many creditors remain unpaid.

Referring to Cosca's alert, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said last night: "Since this email was circulated we have been in discussions with the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations in the States to clarify plans for Homecoming 2014 and made it clear that clans are very much part of the events.

"There will be a clan village as part of the Bannockburn re-enactment and we are working hard to incorporate a clan parade into the event."

The first Year of Homecoming was designated in 2009 to encourage people at home or abroad to celebrate Scotland's culture and heritage.

Despite financial problems, the Government declared the previous Gathering a success, claiming it drew 47,000 visitors and generated £10 million for the Scottish economy.

The Government has a 10-year target to boost income from tourism by 50% by 2016. Earlier this year a Holyrood committee warned that the target could not be met.