Tourism destinations (cities) are recognized as complex governance contexts involving multi-stakeholders in producing and delivering products and services. However, minimal research has been done to explore tourism destination governance in cities. This research explores this topic with a qualitative design through interviews with major stakeholders involved in five US destinations. Applying the grounded theory, researchers propose a collaborative governance framework in tourism destinations consisting of eight themes and 18 subthemes. The framework uncovers collaborative governance structure and mechanism in tourism cities and discusses the complexities and contradictions. The contextual impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism governance are also examined. The findings provide practical implications for collaboratively governing tourism destinations for sustainable operation and resilience to crises.