Online marketing for a hospitality franchise is all about the short moment between feeling peckish and choosing: a guest searches 'near me' or 'open now', looks at photos and reviews and taps directions, order or book. According to the NFV, the Netherlands has 4,228 hospitality locations and 7,536 food retail locations operating under a franchise brand. For every location, we make sure that choice falls on your restaurant or café, on every map platform and in AI assistants.
How big are food and hospitality franchise brands in the Netherlands?
The NFV Franchise Statistics for reference year 2025 show that food and hospitality together make up a large share of the franchise sector. In locations per brand, food is the broadest sector of all, while hospitality has the most people employed per location. For online marketing this means: many locations, many local search moments and many profiles to keep up to date.
| Characteristic | Food retail | Hospitality |
|---|---|---|
| Franchise brands | 114 | 157 |
| Locations | 7,536 | 4,228 |
| People employed | 164,300 | 113,200 |
| Turnover (excl. VAT) | €21.9 billion | €5.2 billion |
| Average locations per brand | 66 | 27 |
| Turnover per location | €2.91 million | €1.23 million |
| People employed per location | 21.8 | 26.8 |
What do these figures mean for your marketing?
A franchise brand with dozens of locations has just as many map listings, review streams and local search moments. That is why we work per location rather than per campaign, with one approach that we tailor to the sector through our sector-specific franchise approach.
How does a guest choose a food or hospitality location online?
With food and drink, the gap between searching and buying is short. Often it is a matter of minutes. The guest types or says 'pizza near me', 'lunch open now' or the name of your brand, and the phone shows a map with a few options. Whoever shows the right opening hours, a recognisable photo and recent reviews there wins the visit. A location without up-to-date details drops out, even if the brand is well known.
That search path runs through four steps. Each step has its own task and its own measuring point. Read more about the search moment on the phone under mobile search visibility for chains.
What do you arrange per location for 'near me' and 'open now'?
Searches with 'open now' rely entirely on your opening hours. If a time is wrong, the map shows your restaurant as closed or sends a guest to a locked door. That costs more than one visit, because that guest sometimes writes a review about it too. For every location, we record regular hours, special hours and bank holidays in a source list and keep them identical in Google, Apple Maps and Bing.
Menu and photos per location
For hospitality, the menu and photos are the most important part of a profile. Head office supplies the brand photos and the standard menu. The location adds its own images: the terrace, the premises, the team. We check whether every location has enough recent photos and whether the link to the menu works.
Busy times and practical information
On the map, guests also check how busy it is and whether there is a terrace, parking or a takeaway counter. We fill in the attributes for every location and keep them current, so the guest knows in advance what to expect.
Work together on measurable results, not on an annual contract. Start with the free visibility scan.
How do you make bookings and orders measurable per restaurant?
A profile that only informs leaves turnover on the table. In Apple Business Connect you can add action buttons for ordering, booking or an appointment, plus Showcases for temporary offers and news. In the Google Business Profile we work with links to booking or ordering for each location. That way the guest reaches the right restaurant in a single tap, and you can see per location how many actions the profile generates.
Many chains only manage Google. That is why we pay attention to Apple Maps for franchise chains and to Bing Places for every location, where we register, verify and maintain each location.
| Task | Head office | Location | Us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening hours and bank holidays | Sets the framework | Supplies changes | Pushes them to all platforms |
| Menu and prices | Standard menu | Local variations | Checks links and accuracy |
| Photos | Brand images | Own premises and team | Flags outdated images |
| Booking and ordering | Chooses the system | Keeps availability up to date | Links buttons per profile |
| Reviews | House rules for responses | Resolves complaints | Responds within 24 hours (Growth) |
Why do reviews matter so much for hospitality chains?
A guest compares in seconds. Recent reviews with a reply from the restaurant make the difference. In the Local SEO Benchmark Franchise Chains 2026, only 6 of the 100 chains responded to reviews within 24 hours. The chains that did respond took 6.8 days on average, and 90% demonstrably had no review management process. In the Growth package we respond within 24 hours, with a draft prepared by AI and checked by a person. Read how that works across all platforms under review management for chains.
| Element | Why | How we measure it |
|---|---|---|
| Opening hours correct on three maps | 'Open now' only shows correct listings | Weekly comparison with the source list |
| Menu link works | Guests want to know what is on the menu beforehand | Link check per location |
| Recent photos | First impression on the map | Date of the latest upload per profile |
| Replies to reviews | Trust when guests are in doubt | Response time per location in hours |
| Action buttons | From browsing to booking or ordering | Clicks on order, book, directions and call |
How do you recruit franchisees online for a food or hospitality franchise brand?
Hospitality asks a lot of an entrepreneur: long days, staff and consistent quality. A candidate has to want that and be able to finance it. We recruit on results: you pay nothing upfront, but pay per verified introduction to a candidate who has been checked beforehand for own capital, financeability, region and motivation, plus a success fee on signing. We agree the amounts in writing in advance. Read more under results-based franchisee recruitment. The duty to provide information in advance and the four-week standstill period under the Dutch Franchise Act remain with you as the franchisor.
What does online marketing for hospitality locations cost?
Our prices are public and apply per location per month, excl. VAT: Basic €199, Growth €400, Full service €600. Social media, ad management and recruitment get a fixed monthly price on quotation. You pay your advertising budget directly to the platform. All prices are listed under what online marketing per location costs, and you will find an overview of every channel under all online services for franchise brands.
Other sectors follow a different search path. So also compare the approach for service franchises, the approach for non-food retail and the approach for care, sport and wellness.
| Element | Choice | Per month (excl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| 20 locations | Growth at €400 | €8,000 |
| 7 locations in busy city centres | Full service at €600 | €4,200 |
| Total fixed costs | 27 locations | €12,200 |
| Social and ad management | On quotation | Fixed monthly price |
Starting with a baseline measurement
Not sure which package fits? If you first want to know where your locations stand, you can request a free baseline measurement. After that, we start with a pilot for a group of locations.
What does a location outside the Google Maps top 3 cost you?
This calculation uses Dutch figures instead of American click-through rates. The average revenue per franchise location comes from the Dutch Franchise Association (NFV) statistics, reference year 2025. Nobody can say in advance exactly how much revenue a location loses without a top position in Google Maps, with a Google Business Profile that is not in order, or without proper review management. So you calculate a scenario per cause: a few percent of revenue going to a more visible competitor. Add them up and you see the combined cost.
| Sector | Revenue per location per year | 1% revenue missed | 3% revenue missed | Growth package (€4,800 a year) as share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All sectors (average) | €1,445,000 | €14,450 | €43,350 | 0.33% |
| Services | €480,000 | €4,800 | €14,400 | 1% |
| Hospitality | €1,230,000 | €12,300 | €36,900 | 0.39% |
| Health care | €1,270,000 | €12,700 | €38,100 | 0.38% |
| Non-food retail | €1,750,000 | €17,500 | €52,500 | 0.27% |
| Food retail | €2,910,000 | €29,100 | €87,300 | 0.16% |
| Other brands | €680,000 | €6,800 | €20,400 | 0.71% |
- 6 of the 100 largest Dutch franchise chains reply to a Google review within 24 hours; the average response time is 6.8 days and 90% has no demonstrable review management process.
- Only 40% of the 500 Google Business Profiles examined is fully completed.
- In the measurement one review was viewed around 15,000 times on average: an unanswered complaint stays visible to thousands of people.
- 42% of consumers would rather not do business with a company that never replies to reviews (BrightLocal 2026).
Sources: NFV Franchise Statistics, reference year 2025 (34,937 locations, €50.5 billion revenue); Local SEO Franchise Benchmark 2026 (100 largest chains, 500 profiles); sector model on franchiseseo.nl (in Dutch). The percentages are scenarios you choose, not a measurement or a promise. We do not promise rankings or revenue.
Questions about online marketing for food and hospitality
Why doesn't my hospitality location show up for 'open now' in Google Maps?
Who supplies the photos for the profiles of our restaurants?
Can guests book or order directly at a location via Apple Maps?
How quickly do you respond to reviews of hospitality locations?
How many food and hospitality locations in the Netherlands operate under a franchise brand?
Does every hospitality location need its own Instagram account?
How do you measure whether a hospitality location attracts more guests via the map?
Do hospitality locations also appear in answers from AI assistants?
How do you recruit franchisees for a hospitality brand without an advertising package?
What does online marketing cost for a hospitality brand with 20 locations?
Sources
Gijs Bodenstaff
Franchise marketer, local SEO and GEO specialist, author
Request the free visibility scan and see for each hospitality location how guests find you on Google, Apple Maps and Bing.
What role do social media and AI assistants play for food and hospitality franchise brands?
According to Newcom's National Social Media Research 2026, 6.2 million Dutch people use Instagram every day and 3.4 million use TikTok every day. For hospitality, these are the places where dishes, atmosphere and local promotions become visible. Head office creates the brand campaigns, the location shares its own moments. We guard the line between the two with Instagram marketing for franchise brands and TikTok for chains.
More and more people also ask an AI assistant for a food tip or a place to have lunch. Using fixed questions, we test whether your locations appear in those answers, and we build the data AI relies on: consistent profiles, location pages with schema, and reviews.