In recent years, community-based tourism (CBT) has grown in popularity in most continents. This paper systematically evaluates and generalizes theoretical and practical issues on CBT based on 87 related articles published in scientific journals under the Scopus system between 2013 and 2023 through the application of content analysis methods. The results also reveal that research in this area has different research areas and mainly uses qualitative methods. The literature review identified a number of key themes including: (1) benefits of CBT development, (2) community and stakeholder engagement, (3) advantages and barriers in CBT development, (4) community perceptions about CBT, and (5) sustainable CBT development. The article has analyzed research trends on CBT: theory and application.