Taiwan's tourism industry has been hit hard by a sharp decline in visits from the mainland. Hotels are half-empty and thousands of tour buses sit idle.
Tourism in Taiwan has taken a nose dive since the Democratic Progressive Party chairman, Tsai Ing-wen came to power. Frustrated by the turn of events, thousands of people working in Taiwan's tourism industry are planning to hold demonstrations in the nation's capital on September 12th.
Protesters are blaming Tsai for the slump in tourist numbers. They say her vague stance on the 1992 One-China-Consensus has hurt cross-strait relations -- and devastated the island's tourism industry.
"I used to drive for tourists 27 days a month, even 30 days. But now, I'd count myself lucky to work for half a month," said Peng Rifu, taxi driver.
Around 40 percent of the 10 million tourists that visited Taiwan last year, came from the Chinese Mainland. But the number of tourists from the Mainland has dropped by more than 20 percent since May.
Taiwan tour guides used to accompany three or four tourist groups every month, but that number has dropped to one or two a month, and sometimes even zero. Visits to Taiwan's famous Hualian region have dropped by around 50 percent.
"In August, we lost 30 to 50 percent of our Mainland customers. September is an off season in Taiwan. So that number will likely be even higher than 50 percent," said Liu Lingling, manager of Rose Garden Homestay Hostel.
Taiwan authorities have tried to make up for the shortfall by attracting more tourists from Southeast Asia. But that plan hasn't worked out. One official says recognizing the 1992 Consensus is the only way for Taiwan's tourism industry to survive.
"It is absolutely Tsai's duty to ensure economic development and cross-strait stability," said Fu Kunqi, head of Hualian County.
People participating in the upcoming unity-demonstration hope that Tsai and her colleagues will listen to their message, before its too late.
