Wealthy to spend more than $12K a year on vacations

By Special to MoneySense on July 2, 2015
Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Yet 83% choose to fly economy rather than first class

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Affluent Canadians (those with investible assets of $1 million or more) expect to spend an annual average of $12,393 on leisure travel (including airfare, accommodation, food, etc.), according to a BMO Private Banking report. Other highlights:

Wealthy Canadian travelers expect to spend an average amount of $5,665 per trip, compared to the average of $1,800 Canadians overall plan to spend per vacation.
65% of affluent Canadians plan to take, on average, three or more vacations this year.
The vast majority choose to fly economy (83%) rather than first class (16%).

The study also found that upon arriving at their destinations:

54% of affluent Canadians stay in a four-star hotel rather than a five-star (29%);
41% stay at an all-inclusive resort; and
33% stay in a rental unit.

Wealthy Canadians most often travel to the U.S. (74%) or stay within Canada (57%). Half vacation in Europe (49%) while other popular destinations include the Caribbean (39%) and Mexico (27%). According to the study, winter is the most popular season for travel (70%); more than half vacation during the summer, spring and fall. However, only one in 10 take leisure trips over the Christmas holiday season. And don’t forget travel insurance. A recent BMO Insurance study showed that needing medical attention while abroad (41%) is one of the top concerns for Canadians and more than one third (36%) have required some form of medical attention while on vacation. This article orginally appeared on Advisor.ca.