Smart tourism and the application of ICT: The contribution of digital tools

The objective of the research was to analyze the main conceptual contributions of intelligent tourism, offering an approximation to this phenomenon from the theoretical and empirical point of view. A review of the literature related to the conceptualization of smart cities and smart tourism was carried out. The use of Information and Communication Technologies in enterprises related to hospitality and food service activities under the ISIC4 classification was also analyzed based on official data from the Ecuadorian Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) of the surveys corresponding to the 2012-2015 period. Based on this analysis, provisional conclusions were drawn about the role of information and communication technologies in activities related to the tourism sector and their possible contribution to the diversification of competitiveness in Ecuador.