Israeli guests and Egyptian hosts in Sinai: A bubble of serenity

This study explores the interactions between tourists and service employees of countries that have been traditionally hostile to each other. Based on a qualitative research of Israeli tourists and Egyptian service providers in the Sinai Peninsula, this study exposes five practices through which both parties emphasize constructive elements of interaction and avoid possible obstruction of peaceful encounters. The study indicates that the practices of the involved parties were provisionally abandoned after terrorist attacks in this region and then gradually reinstated. Accordingly, the guest-host encounter examined in Sinai is conceptualized as a two-party "bubble of serenity" and analyzed in terms of its authentic or inauthentic nature.