Margie Manning
Rich Floridians expect to spend 51 percent more on leisure travel this year than wealthy people in other parts of the country.
Floridians with a high-net worth — those with more than $1 million in investible assets — anticipate spending an average of $20,116 on vacations in 2015, including airfare, accommodations and food, according to a study by BMO Private Bank. That’s the highest among the states surveyed and more than the national average of $13,249, the bank said in a statement.
Most affluent Floridians, 72 percent of those surveyed, prefer to stay in a four-star hotel, and another 19 percent favor a five-star hotel. Those numbers are about on par with national averages.
Other survey findings show:
• 61 percent of wealthy Floridians plans five trips or more this year, compared to the national average of six trips per year.
• The average expense per trip for wealthy Floridians is about $12,606, compared to the national average of $2,902.
• Nearly one-quarter of wealthy Floridians — 23 percent — choose to fly business class or first class, while three-quarters choose to fly economy.
• Florida’s wealthy residents tend to prefer to travel in the fall (77 percent), followed by summer (70 percent). Spring travel came in third, at 68 percent.
• More than nine in 10 — 91 percent — of the state’s affluent prefer to travel within the United States, while 42 percent said they travel to Europe.
Wealth plans should include a leisure component based on anticipated travel plans, Gary Heard, managing director, Sarasota, BMO Private Bank, said in the statement.