Posted: Nov 23, 2010 4:57 AM
Updated: Nov 23, 2010 6:21 AM
TUCSON - Black Friday is right around the corner and Tucson is expecting international shoppers from Mexico to help boost sales.
The Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau says heading into December, Arizona will see millions of visits from Mexico.
"Black Friday is amazing, you can get a lot of stuff really cheap," Jorge Perez said.
Perez came to Tucson from Mexico City and he is looking forward to making it back for Black Friday. He got is holiday shopping started early, spending close to $2,000 in the last two days.
"New Polos, perfumes, tennis shoes, a lot of stuff," Perez said.
After Perez finished up breakfast at the Comfort Suites, he went back to Tucson Mall for another busy day of shopping.
Comfort Suites General Manager Jackie Pesina says during high shopping season, 45 to 60 percent of her guests come from Mexico with one thing on their minds.
"A lot of shopping, oh my gosh, they have bags and bags and bags, our shopping carts get full, we are very jealous," Pesina said.
The Comfort Suites was almost fully booked last weekend and Pesnia says, with Black Friday coming, she is expecting a packed house.
The MTCVB says Black Friday shopping is becoming more popular in Mexico, as people are willing to make the drive for worthy deals.
"We're starting to see a lot of people from Mexico making hotel reservations for Thursday night. And it's not a holiday in Mexico, people have no days off. So they take a day off or two out of work and they come here because they know, oh boy, Friday, I have to be there because sales are going to be spectacular," Felipe Garcia, Vice President of Community Affairs and Mexico Marketing with the MTCVB said.
Each year, the MTCVB says visitors from Mexico spend about $940 million dollars in Pima County, accounting for 5 percent of taxable sales.
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