A tourist information service is to return to Lochboisdale, two years after Visit Scotland shut its visitor centre.
A gift shop is to set up in the former tourist office in the village from April.
Staff will also be on hand to answer travellers’ queries.
The base was the first port of call for many travellers disembarking from the ferry from Oban or Mallaig.
But VisitScotland closed most of its premises in the Western Isles’ saying they experienced a 58% drop in footfall in the past 12 years.
Two out of three visitors now access information online maintains the national tourism organisation.
However, the popularity of tourist offices with visitors to the Outer Hebrides endures.
Across the Uist, Harris and Lewis, numbers were increasing modestly over the three years up to the closures, bucking the national declining trend.
That may have reflected both the patchy mobile coverage for internet access and the
popularity of the islands amongst older visitors with a preference for face-
Landlord Stòras Uibhist which purchased the building following its closure is renting the property to local business, Uist Gifts and Info.
Bruce Beveridge, interim chief executive of the Stòras Uibhist said: “This is great news at the start of 2019 given the critical importance of tourism to the island’s economy.
“I am convinced that the return of a tourism hub to Lochboisdale will prove to be a very valuable initiative.”
Tourist information service to return to Lochboisdale
8 January 2019