ROME, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- As lovers celebrate the most romantic day of the year, the Italian retail and catering industries are embracing big turnover over Valentine's Day.
The related consumption in Italy on Valentine's Day is expected to positively affect 158,000 businesses, 1.8 percent higher compared with the previous year, involving 660,000 employees, according to data issued by the Chamber of Commerce of Milan, Monza Brianza and Lodi, a public body focusing on local and national businesses.
Restaurants represent the lion's share on Valentine's Day which falls on Thursday, with 121,000 businesses involved, accounting for more than 76.5 percent of the businesses active for the day, followed by flower shops (8.8 percent) and jewelry stores (8.2 percent), mainly concentrated in Rome, Naples and Milan, data showed.
Some 5.3 million Italians are expected to go out for dinner on Valentine's night, with an expected total spending of 227 million euros (about 255.83 million U.S. dollars), 2.7 percent up on the previous year, according to a research issued by Federazione Italiana Pubblici Esercizi (FIPE), Italy's largest federation of retail and catering businesses.
One out of two Italian restaurants expects to provide special services for the lovers' night, with 64.3 percent of restaurants delivering dedicated menu for an average price of 43 euros.
As far as Valentine's presents are concerned, flowers, perfumes and jewelry are still atop Italians' preference list, followed by hi-tech products, according to data issued by LoveIndex Mastercard.
Figures from Codacons, Italy's main consumer right association, showed that last year, Valentine's Day created a turnover of 350 million euro in Italy. (one euro currently equals to 1.13 U.S. dollars)
