Tourists 'were forced to sleep in cars' after a ferry broke down on the Outer Hebrides route last week.
The 19-year-old car ferry MV Loch Portain broke down on Friday afternoon, leaving services on the route between Leverburgh on Harris and the island of Berneray - an important link in the Hebrides chain - cancelled throughout the weekend.
CalMac has said a smaller ferry is expected to be brought in today to take up the slack as the MV Loch Portain remains out of action.
Users have been told engineers needed to deal with the problem were not available until Monday.
Cllr Grant Fulton, based on Harris, said he fears the knock-on effect of islands' disruption is that tourist will not return and people were stuck in Harris and Lewis with no accommodation as well as "struggling to even get food due to the crisis with lack of staff in food businesses".
He said: "Tourists are having to sleep in cars.
"Accommodation providers in North and South Uist will have cancellations due to their guests not able to travel.
"Travel plans are scuppered, with folk trying to make the Lochboisdale, South Uist, and Barra ferries, as many tourists use the hopscotch CalMac booking option travelling down or up the islands.
"CalMac have no extra capacity to provide a ferry when another breaks down - almost a weekly occurrence at this stage.
"Accommodation providers in Harris are now getting future cancellations due to the ferry lottery system.
"How are our own businesses supposed to survive with the increased fuel costs and ferry lottery system?
"We have shellfish that needs transported, food and fuel that needs to come to the island.
"Is this acceptable? Will these visitors return? I certainly wouldn't."
One traveller made a social media plea for accommodation saying her family were "stranded and unable to reach our next rental property on Eriskay".
She wrote: "Does anyone know of any dog-friendly accommodation? CalMac are not taking phone calls."
She was eventually offered a room for the night after the appeal but said she managed to get a hotel booked after CalMac advised they couldn't get her group to Eriskay before Wednesday.
Another tourist said she was stranded on Uig on Lewis before finding a detour.
She said: "Please, we're stuck, too. Trying to call CalMac, it's impossible to reach them.
"We've been trying to call them for two hours now."
CalMac said a limited passenger-only charter was organised, which required booking.
It said: "We recognise that cancelling a service can be very challenging for our customers and the communities we serve and apologise for the disruption this will cause."
It said Loch Portain, which can carry 146 passengers and 34 cars, will remain out of action today whilst further investigations are carried out on the vessel's propulsion system.
It was hoped a smaller relief vessel, MV Loch Bhrusda, which can carry 150 passengers and 18 cars, would be in place yesterday but is now expected to take up service from today.
CalMac said: "As a result of the reduced capacity this ferry offers not all existing bookings can be honoured - we will operate a prioritisation system and port staff will contact affected passengers."
It added that as a result of crew hours, the 5.20pm sailing from Berneray today and the 6.30pm sailing from Leverburgh have been cancelled.
It comes as the Scottish Government's ferry procurement body, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) said it will cost an "eyewatering" £1.5 billion to attempt to sort out the nation's ferry fiasco over 10 years, after admitting the lifeline network has suffered from "many years" of underinvestment.
In 2022, some 17 of state-owned ferry operator CalMac's 31 working ferries deployed across Scotland is now over its 25-year life expectancy.
It comes as the South Uist Business Ferry Users Group plan to investigate the economic cost of losing ferry services between May and June.
A CalMac spokesman said: "An issue has emerged with MV Loch Portain's propulsion system and investigations are currently being carried out.
"We have arranged specialist support to rectify the issues as soon as practicably possible.
"Since the vessel went off service, a passenger-only charter has been in operation between Berneray and Leverburgh.
"Relief vessel MV Loch Bhrusda is now in position as of Sunday evening and will take up vehicular service on Monday.
"Due to the relief vessel having a lower service speed, we will be operating only four return sailings daily, and therefore will be required to use a prioritisation of traffic for the relief vessel.
"We apologise for any inconvenience."
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