Reporting from South Sinai, Tamara Davison unpacks Sharm El-Sheikh’s history as a popular tourist destination with deeper significance.
Donald Trump and Keir Starmer are among dozens of world leaders heading to Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh for a pivotal summit marking a tentative end to the destruction in Gaza.
While it’s better known for world-class diving and coral reefs than for diplomatic significance, the coastal destination has played a key part in discussions leading to Gaza’s ceasefire.
The latest talks will culminate when more than 20 world leaders land in the sunny South Sinai Peninsula to attend a summit co-chaired by Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Trump. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, will reportedly attend, but there will be no representatives from Israel or Hamas.
The goal, according to Egypt, is to ‘end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East, and usher in a new phase of regional security and stability’.
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Reports indicate that around 10 million tourists visit Sharm El-Sheikh each year, with many coming from countries such as the UK, Germany, and Russia. It’s just a five-hour flight to Sharm for Brits, and the destination is in demand — TUI has just relaunched direct flights.
But today, as holidaymakers slap on sunscreen and smoke flavoured shishas by the beach, they’ll be doing so a stone’s throw from an event that could reshape peace in the region — and the future of tourism in this part of the world.
It’s a jarring contrast, and one that serves as a reminder that travel is often subtly intertwined with the broader dynamics of our world.
So why exactly is Sharm significant?
Sharm El-Sheikh’s chequered history
Nestled on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, Sharm El-Sheikh sits next to clear turquoise waters that look out toward Saudi Arabia. To the far north are Egypt’s borders with both Israel and Gaza, while to the south, an abundance of other holiday hotspots, such as Hurghada.
Framed by rugged golden mountains, it’s a picturesque slice of Egyptian coastline. But beyond its impressive natural landscapes, Egypt has been an anchor of stability in a turbulent region.
Dubbed the ‘City of Peace’, Sharm El-Sheikh has been a surprising cornerstone within such diplomacy over the decades.
Its last prominent performance was COP27 in 2022, when the city welcomed the world’s leading minds to discuss the climate emergency.
It has also hosted events such as the World Economic Forum, serving as a place where international agreements have been forged and handshakes have been made, all while families and honeymooning couples splash in nearby waters.
In some ways, Sharm’s history as a tourist hotspot has been shaped by geopolitics itself — changing hands in the aftermath of conflict and the subsequent negotiations.
Once a traditional Bedouin fishing village, the region was occupied by Israel following the Six-Day War in 1967 before it was eventually returned to Egypt in 1982 after the signing of the Camp David Accords.
It was during this tumultuous period that Sharm El-Sheikh began to emerge as a holiday destination, with reports claiming that Israeli visitors were among the first to recognise its value as a diving destination.
After 1982, when it was designated the ‘City of Peace’, the Egyptian government began a major push to develop Sharm as a tourist spot. Investment poured into building resorts, dive centres and transport networks, and public funds were used to improve roads and flight connections.
This, along with the region’s spectacular reefs, sandy beaches, and year-round sun, saw tourist numbers soar.
Yet, this period of growth wasn’t without its challenges — especially because of its location in the fraught Sinai Peninsula.
A 2005 terrorist attack that killed 88 people largely rocked confidence in Sharm as a safe place to holiday.
In 2015, a Thompson Airways plane was forced to dodge a missile on approach into the resort, and the same year, a Russian airliner was downed after a homemade bomb exploded, killing all 224 people on board.
Tourism came to a standstill — the ‘City of Peace’ faced a reckoning, a slow recovery and a hard look in the mirror.
Tourism boosted by politics?
Still, diplomacy continued throughout those quieter tourist years, with thousands of important figures attending major events such as the COP27 and beyond.
In some ways, these events spurred the comeback of tourism, helping to boost investment and infrastructure projects.
Today, Sharm’s appeal is obvious: an array of luxury hotels, traffic-free roads, a sprawling conference complex, and a nearby international airport have helped firmly put it on the map, both in terms of tourism and negotiations.
Fast forward to today, and it is still better known for holidays than strategic diplomacy.
Tourists don’t come here to marvel at the conference centre or reflect on the region’s history — they come here to sunbathe and indulge in all-inclusive meals.
Yet such luxury and freedom are often shaped by the very discussions that’ll take place today in this coastal destination.
As world leaders brush shoulders in Egypt this week, one must wonder what impression the backdrop of Sharm El-Sheikh may leave.
With its own history of peace treaties and diplomacy, could this become a blueprint for Trump’s eyebrow-raising ‘Riviera’ plans?
Or maybe, for those basking on the beach, it’ll be a subtle reminder of just how interconnected we all are with the geopolitical happenings of our world, whether we want to be or not.