Measuring sustainable tourism at the municipal level Anna Torres-Delgado 1,2,⇑ , Francesc López Palomeque 2 University of Barcelona, Spain article info Article history: Received 12 February 2014 Revised 4 August 2014 Accepted 9 September 2014 Coordinating Editor: Graham Miller Keywords: Tourism sustainability Indicators Indicator system Tourism municipalities Catalonia abstract The objective of this research is to provide a scientifically sound, applicable method for studying tourism sustainability at the local level. This is done by developing an indicator system based on an initial literature search that serves to compile a preliminary list of indicators, which are then verified and scientifically validated by conducting a Delphi survey. This process is used to develop a consensual indicator system that is adapted to the tourism sector and includes 26 indicators of social, economic and environmental sustainability. To ensure the applicability of the system, indicator values are then calculated for 20 tourism municipalities in Catalo- nia (Spain). The results confirm the proposed system is an effective tool for planning and managing tourism at municipal level. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Sustainability has become a key variable in the competitiveness of tourist destinations (ECORYS, 2009; World Economic Forum, 2013) and therefore a primary objective for public managers (Navarro Jurado et al., 2012). However, making tourism sustainable is not easy, mainly because the imprecise nature of the concept of sustainability makes it difficult to apply. In fact, this vagueness is the main reason for the spread and general acceptance of the term, but also accounts for its http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2014.09.003 0160-7383/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author at: C/Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain. Tel.: +34 93 403 78 95. E-mail addresses: anna.torres@cett.cat, annatorres@ub.edu (A. Torres-Delgado), lopez.palomeque@ub.edu (F.L. Palomeque). 1 Address: CETT-UB, Av. Can Marcet, 36-38, 08035 Barcelona, Spain. 2 Address: Dept. de Geografia Física i Anàlisi Geogràfica Regional, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain. Annals of Tourism Research 49 (2014) 122–137 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Annals of Tourism Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures