Scholars and commentators trying to assess the nature of touristic
encounters have often reached contrasting conclusions. While on the one hand,
such encounters appear to be fraught by striking inequalities, highly deceptive, and
a constant source of misunderstanding and reciprocal exploitation, on the other
hand, they seem to hold the promise of reciprocal exchange and positive
intercultural connections. How do these opposing evaluations take shape, and what
informs them? Building on a selective review of anthropological literature on touristic
encounters and ethnography of relationships between „tourists‟ and „locals‟ in Cuba,
the article unpacks the moral underpinnings and interpretive frameworks on which
these polarizing views are grounded. In touristic encounters in Cuba, contrasts and
oppositions between sentiment and interest lead the different actors involved to blur
and redraw boundaries between the intrinsic and the instrumental value of
relationships. In explaining these different assessments of encounters the article
draws attention to the competing agendas, aspirations, and moral demands that
inform the way judgments are made, and provides analytical pathways to illuminate
the uneasy coexistence of different interpretative frameworks in tourism.