Key benchmarking data for your 2026 franchise events.

Are you hosting events for your franchisees?

Want to know how you stack up against others in your space?

This article will give you the insights you need to host best-in-class franchise conventions, from average budgets to the best structure for your agenda.

Want to download this report as a PDF? Click here.

Trends: the events industry as a whole.

Events are a growing force for companies worldwide. Post-pandemic, more companies are seeing the value of hosting in-person meetings and events, especially with dispersed workforces and digital marketing noise.

• The global events industry market is expected to reach a revenue of 2.5 trillion by the year 2035.
• According to Events Industry Market Research, the events industry is growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.8% from 2024 to 2035. 
  
• By 2026, 66% of event planners plan to outsource at least part of their event management.
  
• 88% of planners expect meeting budgets to increase in 2026, according to the Meetings & Events forecast.
• Cost concerns and economic uncertainty are top challenges in 2026, cited by 38% and 32% of companies.
  
• Overall event costs are expected to rise 2% to 4% through 2026, aligning with inflation and broader economic conditions, according to Northstar's Meetings and Events industry forecast.
  
• 80% of marketers say live events are crucial to company success.
• The average event ROI is often cited as 2x to 5x the initial investment in profit, or roughly 3x to 6x in total revenue.
• 78% of organizers say in-person conferences, summits, and conventions are their most impactful marketing channel.

Events drive business results and are a very important part of our clients’ businesses. Let’s dive into our 2025 franchise conference data now.

Franchise events overview.

Although franchise events share many similarities to the larger market, they still hold some unique variabilities (e.g. most franchise companies include ticket costs in annual franchise fees). Let's take a look at the data below.

Type of events.

Each client approaches their events differently, but nearly all find the importance in hosting an annual franchise conference to gather their franchisees for education, networking, and motivation.

• 100% of clients host a franchise conference
• 25% of clients host an incentive trip
• 25% of clients host both an incentive trip and a franchise conference

Events budget.

Event spend varies quite a bit between companies. This is due to variables such as the size and length of the event, as well as location and overall goals. As you’re planning your event, here are some benchmarks to keep in mind:

Average spend (total)

• Conferences: $1.26M
  • Conference spending increased by 18.9% on average between 2024 and 2025.
    
• Incentive trips: $250,000

Average spend (per person)

• Conferences: $2,790
• Incentive trips: $3,962

Attendee count.

Attendee count for franchise conferences often depends on the size of the franchise itself and who the company wants to invite. Our clients typically host their franchise store owners/managers and key partners.

Average: 373

• Conferences: 200 - 700
• Incentive trips: 60 (average)

For conferences, 75% of companies require franchisees to pay to attend.

Event locations.

Franchise events can occur anywhere, but a few key markets stand out.

Major markets.

Our clients host events all over the U.S. and abroad. Most franchise clients host their events in a cluster of U.S. cities:

• Las Vegas, NV
• Dallas, TX
• Orlando, FL
• Phoenix / Scottsdale, AZ
  
• Napa California (incentive)

These are popular locations for the spring and fall, providing temperate weather and favorable rates.

Only 20% of franchise clients host their franchise conference within 100 miles of their company headquarters.

Property types.

100% of franchise events are held at a major chain property, including:

• Hilton
• Marriott
• MGM

For all conferences, clients book a general session space and breakout rooms.

Budget allocation.

On average, clients spend the majority of their budget in key categories, including audiovisual production, food and beverage, and housing. Most franchise clients do not cover the cost of housing for their attendees for conferences, which is reflected in a lower housing cost within the conference allocation.

For conferences, 40% of budget goes toward food & beverage, while almost 30% is allocated to audiovisual production. For incentive trips, the emphasis is larger on airfare, housing, and food, and activities take up a much larger percentage of budget than they do for conferences.

Room rates.

Depending on the type of event, franchise companies choose hotels with anywhere from over $250 per night to just over $400 per night for rooms.

Average: $307

• Conference: $289
• Incentive: $380

Food & beverage.

Most franchise companies pay for all meals for their franchisees, regardless of the event. They will also typically host evening events with bars.

Average F&B spend:

• Conference: $423,236
• Incentive: $62,665

  • We saw a 14.6% increase in franchise F&B spend from 2024 to 2025 across incentive programs and conferences.

Average per person:

• Conference: $939
• Incentive: $995

Standard agenda for franchise events.

Program length.

Although every franchise company approaches their events differently, most follow a standard pattern for their program length. All events occur over the span of 2 to 5 days.

Average:

• Conference: 3 days (2 nights)
• Incentive trip: 4 days (3 nights)

Time of year.

Time of year is an important consideration for any company. Similar to the wider portfolio of our clients, 40% of franchise events are in the fall (September through October), while the remaining 60% are in the spring (March through May).

• Conference: 50% occur in the fall
• Incentive: 100% occur in the spring

For our franchise clients, all programs occur annually.

Franchise conference agenda outline.

While every conference is different, most of our franchise clients include these basics in their franchise conference agenda.

Day 1

• Registration
• Welcome reception

Day 2

• Breakfast
• General session
• Breakout sessions
• Networking lunch + expo hall time
• Breakout sessions
• Awards

Day 3

• Breakfast
• General session
• Breakout sessions
• Departures

What else is included?

• 100% of our franchise clients include awards in their franchise conference programming
• 50% of our franchise clients include an expo hall in their conference programming
• Several clients include pre-registration and pre-conference sessions for specific groups

Recommendations for your 2026 franchise events.

Recommendation 1.

Allocate enough money to the large categories that make a difference for your event: food & beverage, audiovisual, and networking opportunities. For conferences, make sure you’re offering plenty of opportunities for your sponsors and vendors to interact with your attendees. For many clients, that includes offering more experiential sponsorships such as hospitality suites or expo hall learning sessions.

Recommendation 2.

Stop building the same conference twice. Franchisees are showing up year after year, and they notice when nothing changes. The brands getting the best engagement right now are experimenting with gamification, richer expo hall experiences, and experiential sponsorships like hospitality suites and hands-on vendor activations. If attendance is flat or motivation is low, the format is worth re-examining before the budget is.

Recommendation 3.

Choose a location that fits your attendees. Only 20% of our franchise clients host their conference near HQ, and there's a reason for that. Las Vegas, Dallas, Orlando, and Phoenix/Scottsdale keep showing up because they offer good rates in spring and fall, easy access, and plenty of off-hours options. Lock in your content and agenda first so you know exactly what kind of space you need before you sign anything.

Recommendation 4.

Make sure to include key partners and vendors in your events, whether that’s through sponsorship, activations, or other means. More and more franchise clients are looking at unique ways to engage their key business partners, whether through separate incentive opportunities or larger sponsorship and exhibit hall activations.

Who we analyzed.

All events included in this analysis are specific to franchise companies. Each company hosts at least one event per year for their franchisees.

The data included in this sample are anonymized and pulled from the budgets, hotel contracts, and timelines that GoGather manages. In some cases, this means that GoGather may have incomplete data about a particular program. Therefore, we aimed to provide information on the areas that we have the most visibility into.

The data set for this analysis includes conferences and incentive trips, with 80% of the data comprised of conferences.

Learn more about our franchise event management services here.