Sharm El-Sheikh shows little semblance to its origin. When it was first settled, it was mostly a group of tents with native fisherman who rose early every morning to fish Sharm's seas. However, Israel gained occupation of Sharm in 1967, which was a huge turning point in Sharm's history. Isreal began to shape Sharm into a tourist, vacation destination. Isreali's also built towns, such as Ofira and Naama Bay where they put some hotels and restaurants. However, Sharm was still not very well known, espcially internationally at this time as a resort destination. While it had the allure of the orient, it did not have the publicity it needed to sustain itself as a tourist capital.

Then in 1982 there was a shift of power and Sharm was again controled by Egyptians. Egyptian rule affected many aspects of the culture, including tourism. At this time, the Egpytian government started a massive publicity campaign to publicize Sharm as the Red Sea Riviera, with luxury hotels and beatiful calm waters. Thus, Sharm began to build up as a popular destination for Europeans who wanted to experience the tropical weather without having to travel for half a day on the plane. Sharm began to grow as its downtown continued to fill with bright-lights, big hotels, movie theatres and english pubs.

Sharm gained its nickname “City of Peace" since there was been several peace conferences in Sharm recently for neighboring countries. For example, representatives of Isreal and Palestine met and agreed to give Palistine control over the Gaza Stip.  At the same time, unfortunately, Sharm has experienced some violence by terrorists motivated by Islamic fundamentalism and agajnst the Mubarak government. The most recent, on July 23,2005, on Egypt's Revolution Day, targeted hotels and cafes, and killed over 80 people and wounded at least 150. Though this sad reality has shocked Sharm, tourists continue to come to the city to see its natural beauty and surroundings.