Taiwan's tourism industry is hurting, as mainland visitors are staying away. Industry representatives are taking to the streets to protest.  They're blaming their economic woes on the politics of the island's leader Tsai Ing-wen, who took office in May.

Around 10,000 people in tourism-related businesses took to the streets in Taipei Monday morning.  The industry is hurting, and they're angry.

Mainland visitors had been on the rise until May.  That's when Tsai Ing-wen took office.  She refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus with the Mainland, which includes the One-China Policy.   

And in July, a deadly bus crash killed an entire group of Mainland tourists.

According to the data from the Taiwan tourism authorities, the number of mainland group visitors has declined by about 30 percent since May.

In the island's southern city Kaohsiung, many restaurants have closed for what's being called remodeling.

Some leisure farm owners say that their average annual income has dropped by almost 70 percent.

"During peak tourist season, we will receive about 300 groups of mainland tourists annually. But now there are only 100 groups left," said Hsieh Kun-Sung, chairman of Kaohsiung Dashu Leisure Agricultural Zone.

The same fears haunt many tea shops in Ali Mountain.  Workers are taking it hard.

"I'm really afraid of losing my job."

"Some tea shops will cut half of their employees. Sometimes two-thirds."

"Previously we could receive about 20 to 30 tourist groups a day. But now, the number is two at most. So we have to lay people off," said a tea shop manager.

Book stores and art galleries are suffering.

"Book buyers really have decreased sharply.  It used to be that every day, the first customer must be a tourist from the mainland and they would buy a lot."

"Lots of mainland tourists came every day before. But now sometimes none at all."

The local sight-seeing tour industry is wondering if it can survive. Many guides have lost their jobs because there are no tour groups. And some tour bus drivers say they've had to give up and sell their bus.