Despite the importance of cities and tourism flows to cities, the literature which explores the effect of tourism on host communities tends to focus on non-urban locations. As different types of tourists place different demands upon the resources of an urban destination, so the impacts and effects will vary in type, location and significance. The purpose of this paper is to report on a study which assessed the perceptions of urban host communities towards tourists and tourism and identified the impact issues that were of most concern to those communities. These objectives were pursued in Australia’s three major urban tourism destinations and most populous cities - Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The study concluded that urban destinations are not homogenous, that there are a wide range of resident perceptions and concerns, which depend on such factors as the intensity and nature of tourist activity, the stage of tourism development, as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of the local area. It is necessary for each local government area to heighten their understanding of their residents’ particular set of concerns, as an assumption that there is an homogenous community view on the impact of tourism is unlikely to lead to effective policy and management practices.