Zakynthos mayor makes inappropriate remarks following fatal stabbing of British tourist



By Katerina Nikolas Jul 15, 11
Updated By Janet Pieterse Jul 15, 11

Greece


Mayor says Lagana attracts cheap, low grade tourists






photo by Jan Hammershaug


Following the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old British tourist on the Greek Island of Zakynthos, local mayor Stelios Bozikis chose the time to make inappropriate comments slamming the behavior of foreign tourists. Enkathimerini reports that with impeccably bad timing, Bozikis appeared on television and laid the blame for the killing on the Island attracting cheap, low grade tourists.






At the time of his statement little was known regarding the death of Robert Sebbage from Tadley near Basingstoke. According to the






Mirror, the victim was at a fast food restaurant on the Island resort of Lagana when an altercation broke out between the group of foreigners and two local taxi drivers. It was his first foreign holiday.






A local police spokesman confirmed "Two Greek taxi drivers were involved in an argument with a group of six foreign nationals, resulting in a physical confrontation. A 21-year-old taxi driver attacked and injured five British nationals, one of whom suffered fatal injuries." The younger driver has been charged with murder whilst the other has been charged with complicity to commit murder.






Lagana is a hot spot for young foreign tourists, having a reputation as a center for partying and drinking. Along with Faliriki on Rhodes, the resort has a bad reputation for all-night drinking and yobbish behavior. However, the mayor's comments stereotyped the victim as a typical "young Brit behaving badly," whilst he knew nothing of the circumstances.






Instead of doing something to address the problems within the tourist industry in Lagana, Stelios Bozikis ignored the Island's problems, calling for a better class of richer tourist as a solution to the resort's poor reputation. As Ekathimerini points out, tour operators are given a free rein in the resort that has turned into a "magnet for heavy drinking low budget tourists ... Bozikis is right that the party needs new rules but that goes first of all for the hosts of the party."