The Sad Side of Valentine’s Day – What the Hospitality Industry Should Know

James Houran, Ph.D | February 21, 2017

By: James Houran, Ph.D. To the service-hospitality industry, holidays like Valentine's Day often make a positive contribution to a company's bottom line. For example, Americans spent an estimated $13 billion for Valentine's merchandise in 2004(1), and in the process, purchased approximately one billion greeting cards(2), 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate(3), and 156 million roses(4). And we have not even touched on the significant revenue from romantic get-a-ways, cruises or dinners. These economics have remained quite robust for more than a decade, and, in fact, are steadily growing. You might be surprised at the latest Valent...