A tourism leader has said the absence of an announcement about the route-map for the Scottish islands has cost millions of pounds in cancellations.
Rob McKinnon, chief executive of Outer Hebrides Tourism, said that three weeks since after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the timetable for mainland travel to resume on April 26 there has yet to be a statement on the islands reopening and the uncertainty is costing business.
After the first two reopening statements did not reference an opening date for the islands it "triggered a wave of cancellations from visitors".
Mr McKinnon said they had expected an announcement today again but islands firms are still waiting for an update on when they can reopen.
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He said: "In some ways, it is easier to fight a policy you disagree with. This is simply an absence of policy.
"If this continues much longer, the Scottish Government's decision will be irrelevant - people will have taken decisions - both those visiting and those working in businesses - and will have opted for options on the mainland.
"The problem is that people much later in the season may cancel, due to the uncertainty, when it is not necessary, so in many ways this situation is worse than a delayed opening."
"In the Outer Islands, we surveyed our members which indicated around £2m of cancellations and rising.
"Each three week closure is around 10% of our season foregone, which cost a further £8m.
"We estimate we have already lost 100-200 jobs so far, but if the season becomes too short, this just risks this figure exploding. We had a third of our businesses say they were uncertain they could survive the season."
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