Sector · 7 brands · FDD 2024
Travel & Hospitality Franchises
Every travel & hospitality franchise we track with publicly available FDD data, compare investment, fees, royalties and unit counts side by side.
- $3.9M–$10.1M
- Avg investment
- $40K
- Avg franchise fee
- 5.0%
- Avg royalty
- $2.2M
- Avg revenue (Item 19)
The sector in one line
The travel & hospitality sector spans 7 brands averaging $3.9M–$10.1M to open at a 5.0% royalty, with Cruise Planners the lowest-cost entry at $2K.
- 7
- Brands tracked
- 5.0%
- Average royalty rate
- 13,600
- Total locations in sector
Largest travel & hospitality franchises by unit count
Total locations (FDD Item 20), top 10 in this sector
- Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
2,800 locations
- Hampton Inn
Hampton Inn
2,700 locations
- Cruise Planners
Cruise Planners
2,600 locations
- Super 8
Super 8
2,500 locations
- Days Inn
Days Inn
1,600 locations
- La Quinta 1,100
La Quinta
1,100 locations
- Expedia CruiseShipCenters 300
Expedia CruiseShipCenters
300 locations
What the Travel & Hospitality Sector Data Reveals
The travel & hospitality category on PlainFranchise covers 7 franchise brands with publicly available Franchise Disclosure Documents, making it a narrower sector where the handful of listed brands account for most of the investable, publicly disclosed franchise inventory, a setup where brand-level due diligence matters more than sector-level averages. The average initial investment across these brands runs from $3.9M to $10.1M, a 157% low-to-high spread that mirrors the underlying cost variance across site size, market tier, and buildout scope within the sector. The typical initial franchise fee lands near $40K, which is the upfront payment for trademark rights, training, and territory, it is a sunk cost, not a capital expenditure.
Ongoing royalties average 5.0% of gross sales across the travel & hospitality cohort, the single biggest ongoing cost line in most franchise P&Ls. On a franchise doing $2.2M in annual revenue, that rate translates to roughly $112K per year flowing to the franchisor before the advertising fund, rent, and labor, which is why negotiating even a small royalty discount (where allowed) materially changes unit economics. Item 19 financial performance data is available for a subset of these brands and shows an average reported gross revenue of $2.2M per location, a useful benchmark when evaluating a specific brand's revenue claim against its sector peers. Aggregate franchised-and-company unit count across the sector runs near 13,600 locations, giving a rough sense of saturation and available white-space markets.
Use this sector page as a comparative screen rather than a ranking. Two brands with similar investment ranges and royalty rates can produce radically different franchisee outcomes depending on supply-chain leverage, real-estate strategy, territory protection, and the quality of franchisor support, details that never show up in sector averages. The cards below sort alphabetically by default; click into any brand to see its full FDD-derived investment profile, Item 19 financial performance (where disclosed), unit-count trajectory, and closure rate. Always read the brand's complete current FDD and consult an independent franchise attorney before signing an FDD receipt.
Travel & Hospitality Franchise Brands (7)
Cruise Planners
Cruise Planners Franchising
$11K
3.0%
2,600
Days Inn
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
$35K
5.5%
1,600
Expedia CruiseShipCenters
Expedia Group
300
Hampton Inn
Hilton Worldwide
$75K
6.0%
2,700
Holiday Inn
IHG Hotels & Resorts
$50K
5.0%
2,800
La Quinta
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
$35K
5.0%
1,100
Super 8
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
$35K
5.5%
2,500
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
What to do with this
How to use travel & hospitality sector averages before you shortlist a franchise.
- The $3.9M–$10.1M average investment range spans real cost variance by site size and market tier, a specific brand's own FDD Item 7 range is what matters, not the sector average. Compare investment tiers
- At a 5.0% average royalty, ongoing fees compound over the life of the agreement, model the multi-year cost, not just the entry price. Run the ROI calculator
- Compare brands within travel & hospitality against each other, not against the whole database, cost structures vary widely between sectors and cross-sector comparisons rarely mean what they appear to. Browse all sectors
Sector averages are a starting filter, never a recommendation. Review each brand's full FDD and consult a franchise attorney or accountant before investing.
Related
Sector averages computed from Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD Items 5–7, FDD year 2024).
Data compiled from official state franchise disclosure registries and FDD filings. See our methodology for how this is sourced and computed.
Every figure on PlainFranchise is rendered directly from Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.
| Publisher | PlainFranchise |
| Sources | Public state franchise disclosure registries and FDD filings |