This article contributes to extant knowledge by analysing differences in the attitudes towards tourism of residents living in several micro‐destinations (cities) within a larger tourism destination and by using a new approach, the Oaxaca‐Blinder decomposition. Results show that a significant part of the gap in attitudes among cities is explained by residents' perceived tourism impacts; the relevance of each of them in generating gaps is also identified and quantified. However, there is also a significant community adjustment to tourism impacts source of gap, different among cities.