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Hotels & Lodging Franchise Marketing Benchmarks (2026)

By Casey Slaughter Stanton, Founder & CEO, CMOx · Updated September 2026

These benchmarks cover 72 hotel franchise disclosure documents filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce. 1.4% set a local marketing requirement. 0.0% require a designated marketing vendor, against 23% of all franchise systems.

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Hotels & Lodging franchise fees

Fees: hotel franchises vs. all franchises (medians)
TermHotels & LodgingMiddle halfAll franchisesSample
Technology fee$99/mo$9/mo to $490/mo$274/mon=27, small sample

What hotel FDDs say about marketing money

Marketing clauses: share of FDDs that include each
ClauseHotels & LodgingAll franchisesSample
Sets a local marketing requirementRequires local spend as a percentage of sales or a dollar minimum.1.4%46%n=72
Requires a designated marketing vendorFranchisees must buy marketing, advertising, digital or website services from a designated or sole vendor.0.0%23%n=72
Ad fund need not be spent in your marketNo obligation to spend fund money in the franchisee's market or in proportion to what it paid in.56%54%n=72
Ad fund may pay franchisor adminThe fund may pay the franchisor's administrative costs or the salaries of the people who run it.17%64%n=72
Co-op membership mandatoryFranchisees must join a regional advertising co-op if one forms.1.4%31%n=72
Discloses supplier rebatesThe franchisor receives rebates or commissions from suppliers franchisees must use.94%72%n=72
Franchisor sells marketing servicesThe franchisor or an affiliate is an approved supplier of marketing services to its own franchisees.0.0%7.6%n=72
Franchisor approves local adsFranchisee advertising needs franchisor approval before it runs.61%71%n=72

Where hotel ad funds go

Across 49 hotel FDDs that disclose last year's ad fund spending, the average fund dollar went 41% to media placement and 8% to administration, against 39% and 18% across all franchises. 2% of these funds spent a quarter or more on administration.

  • Media placement 41%
  • Production and creative 11%
  • Administration 8%
  • Website, software and technology 9%
  • Other 30%
  • Public relations 1%
The average hotel ad fund dollar, most recent fiscal year (n=49, small sample)

Where franchise ad funds go, across all industries

What growing systems do differently

Among all franchise systems, those that require a designated marketing vendor shrank 23% of the time (n=97), against 38% without one (n=337). Growing systems ask franchisees for less local marketing money and direct more of it. See the full comparison.

These are associations across current filings, not proof that any clause causes growth.

Frequently asked questions

Do hotel franchises require local marketing spend?

1.4% of hotel FDDs set a local marketing requirement, as a percentage of sales or a dollar minimum.

What technology fee do hotel franchises charge?

The median hotel franchise technology fee is $99 a month, with the middle half between $9 a month and $490 a month (27 FDDs).

About these figures

Medians and shares across 72 hotel franchise disclosure documents filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, 92% of them 2026 filings. They describe the market, not any one brand's terms. No figure is shown with fewer than 20 FDDs behind it; 20 to 49 are marked small sample. Full method and every national figure: Franchise Marketing Statistics (2026). CC BY 4.0: cite freely with a link to this page.

All franchise marketing benchmarks · Franchise marketing statistics (2026)

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