Love isn’t the only thing in the air on Valentine’s Day in Mexico. The holiday also brings in quite a bit of money to a number of sectors of the economy.

Valentine’s Day is expected to generate more revenue than Three Kings’ Day this year, according to the National Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Concanaco Servytur).

The association foresees the day of romance generating over 22.8 billion pesos (US $1.2 billion) in revenue, a 3.2% increase over last year.

“This is one of the [most] important celebrations for the Mexican economy. It even surpasses the earnings generated on Three Kings’ Day, which this year were 17.5 billion pesos,” said association president José Manuel López Campos.

He said that the only holidays with higher economic impact are Mother’s Day, which generated 47 billion pesos in revenue last year, and Father’s Day, which brought in over 25 billion.

The association estimates that the average lovebird will spend between 300 and 3,000 pesos on a gift, although there are certainly those sweethearts who will spend quite a bit more.

As the holiday falls on a Friday this year, celebrations could extend into the weekend, bringing in more revenue for restaurants, recreational businesses and, of course, hotels.

Concanaco Servytur expects the hotel sector to see a 3.9% increase over last year. Cinemas, theaters, amusement parks and other recreational businesses should enjoy a 3.7% increase, while restaurants, cafés and alcoholic beverages should see a 3.6% increase and electronics a 3.1% jump.

“The sales of flowers, candies and chocolates also increase 2.8%, clothing and shoes, 2.7%, [and] jewelry, 2.4%,” said López.

The website Tiendeo.mx, which aggregates sales and product offerings, has seen marked spikes in searches for a number of products deemed essential for celebrating Cupid’s special day.

These include a 190% increase in searches for jewelry, 120% for chocolates and a 54% leap in searches for condoms.

Source: Milenio (sp)