The number of tourists to Taiwan from the mainland continues to drop in October with only 499 people visiting the island on October 5, Taiwan.cn reported on Friday.
This has dealt a serious blow to the island's tourism industry which used to receive over 10 thousand visitors a day from the mainland during the seven-day National Day holiday.
Observers say the fall is largely due to the policies of Taiwan's new leader, Tsai Ing-wen, who hasn't acknowledged the 1992 Consensus, which states that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. It has been reported that her attitude has left mainlanders feeling both puzzled and unwelcome. The tour bus arson incident in July which killed 24 mainland tourists also left many potential mainland visitors hesitant to visit.
Workers in the tourism and hospitality industry in Taiwan have been calling for local authorities to come up with concrete measures to tackle the problem.
A large demonstration urging authorities to address this problem, the first of its kind, was organized on September 12 in Taipei with around 10,000 people employed in the tourism industry participating.
