In recent years, community-based tourism has become a source of income within indigenous and rural communities, either as a principal or complementary activity. However, the management of the administrative and financial processes of this type of enterprise was unknown. In this sense, this paper aims to analyze the state of these processes within the so-called Community-Based Tourism Enterprises (CBTEs) in the provinces of Pichincha, Napo, and Imbabura (Ecuador). For this purpose, a matrix was designed to collect information on the administrative and financial processes that an enterprise should have, detailing all their elements with their respective assessment. Also, an interview was administered to the 28 community leaders (one for each CBTE) to diagnose each issue of business management. In this diagnosis, it was concluded that, despite having a certificate from the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR), the Community-Based Tourism Enterprises have not implemented important administrative and financial processes such as a strategic plan, operational plan, market study, cost analysis, process manual, market plan, initial situation, results status, final status, or financial indicators. Therefore, in the long term, this leads to poor management of business resources, which can result in the closure of these enterprises.

El objetivo principal de la investigación fue diseñar un plan de promoción turística para el Cantón San Lorenzo del Pailón, Provincia de Esmeraldas, que favorezca una mayor afluencia de turistas y mejorar la calidad de vida de los pobladores. El Cantón posee una riqueza natural y cultural de significativa importancia, por ello, primero, se elaboraron las fichas de inventario de atractivos del Ministerio de Turismo, para identificar los lugares con mayor potencialidad para las actividades turísticas. Se evidenció que en el cantón se pueden realizar actividades turísticas, pero los pobladores no han sabido aprovechar los recursos que les ofrece la naturaleza, limitando que se posicione como un referente turístico, por esta razón se espera que, por medio de la promoción, este cantón se convierta en un icono turístico potencial.

Smarthphones and mobile apps have changed not only human communication, but also travelling habits. For this reason, mobile apps influences in the tourism in Tena, Ecuador were analysed. First, exploratory research was carried ou to identify the mobile apps available on Google Play. Later, a survey of the apps preferred by tourists was applied. Finally, 140 service providers were interviewed about their mobile app use. As result, 150 tourism apps were identified for Ecuador, mainly for Pichincha (36) and only 4 for Tena. Tourists prefer web sites (67%) as a source of tourism information, use social media frequently (73%), and 39% used mobile apps during their visit, with Google Maps the most used. service. Providers use social media for promotion (57%), mainly Facebook, but 69% of them do not know how to or do not use mobile tourism apps.

The purpose of this article is to provide a proposal for an administrative and financial software for community-based tourism centers (CBTC), based on a previous diagnosis carried out in 28 CBTCs in Ecuador. The purpose of this software is to support these centers in a better management of their enterprises by means of an adequate management of their economic and human resources for the whole community benefit, considering the functions of administration: planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. For its design the PHP programming language and the Dream Weaver and Notepad++ programs were used, the software is easy and simple to use, considering the particularities of these community centers. It has 4 sections: Administrative, financial, Inventories and Inventories by consignment, each of these sections has its respective menu where the required information is entered and tracked. The reports generated will be useful for decision making and continuous improvement of these ventures.