Originally Posted by
rrz518
The hotel would presumably lose the bulk discount thus limiting any desire to keep purchasing them.
I think it's a mixed bag - while the physical paper is nice to have, there is a cost to purchase, and a cost to dispose of. (Imagine 1000 papers per day in a dumpster....). Worse, many/most of them go unused.
Having worked in the newspaper industry I can tell you that most newspapers, national and local, practically give newspapers away to hotels because it boosts the circulation figure and allows them to charge more for advertising. I can guarantee you that the local Marriott is paying next to nothing for the 25-30 copies of the local newspaper or USA Today.
The same is true for airport lounges. There's a reason why airport lounges often have magazines or newspapers (Financial Times, International New York Times) that aren't generally widely circulated. Having 50-100 copies of the Financial Times in every airport lounge really pads the circulation figure.