Source: Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment (2012).

*Economies* **2021**, *9*, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 20

**Table 1.** Summary of variables used in the model.

VA Visitor arrivals Total number of visitor arrivals per annum World Tourism Organization (UN-

Social investment in transport; storage, and

Social investment in the hotel and restaurant industry or accommodation, food and beverage service activities

Social investment in recreation, culture, and sport or recreation, entertainment, and the arts

Note: Data on social investment capital is converted to fixed prices; the original year was 1994.

**Variable Measure Description Data Source**

Between 1995 and 2019, there were three years of negative growth in international tourist arrivals to Vietnam: 1998, 2003, and 2009 show −11.4%, 7.6%, and −11.5%, respectively, due to the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, the SARS epidemic in 2003, and the global recession in 2008–2009. However, the following year, the number of international tourists to Vietnam increased again and offset previous declines (Figure 2). Between 1995 and 2019, there were three years of negative growth in international tourist arrivals to Vietnam: 1998, 2003, and 2009 show −11.4%, 7.6%, and −11.5%, respectively, due to the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, the SARS epidemic in 2003, and the global recession in 2008–2009. However, the following year, the number of international tourists to Vietnam increased again and offset previous declines (Figure 2).

**Figure 2.** Changes in international visitors to Vietnam in the period 1995–2019. Source: Data from UNWTO and VNAT. **Figure 2.** Changes in international visitors to Vietnam in the period 1995–2019. Source: Data from UNWTO and VNAT.

Particularly for the Chinese source market, the largest market to Vietnam in recent years, there are also special events such as in 1995, when the relationship between China and Vietnam had not been normalized, so visitors from China to Vietnam faced difficulties obtaining visas; in 2015, China placed an oil rig in Vietnamese waters, straining relations between the two countries and severely affecting tourism. In this study, the above events are considered unstable factors which affected tourists' decision to visit Vietnam. Therefore, the dummy variable used is the value 1, and the remaining cases are assigned the value 0. More details about the methodological use relating to dummy variables can be found in Song and Lin (2010) or Lin et al. (2015). Table 2 below presents descriptive statistics of the variables in the model with 275 observations (11 source markets over 25 years).



Source: Author's calculation using Eviews.
