LONDON, August 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hotels.com annual taxi report* has revealed that London taxis have been voted the best in the world** for the third year running.

The majority of travellers (59%) who were polled from across the world for the annual Hotels.com taxi report said that London's black cabs were far and away the pick of the world's taxis, fending off competition from New York (favourite amongst 27% of travellers) and Tokyo with 26% of the vote. The German city of Berlin and Bangkok's tuk tuk taxis completed the top 5.

Travelling by taxi is one of the first experiences that many travellers have upon arrival in a new city, so it is significant for the UK capital's tourist industry that London taxis are making such a good impression on visitors. The majority (55%) of UK travellers said that they regularly take a cab to their hotel when arriving in a foreign city or resort, as opposed to 16% who tend to use a private car, or 14% who prefer to venture onto a train.

The global poll scored city based taxis for their levels of cleanliness, value, quality of driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and availability. The overall findings include:

    
    - London taxi drivers are the friendliest in the world with 8% of the
    global vote, beating their Irish (6%) rivals to the title.

    - 12% voted Parisian and New York taxi drivers the rudest in the world.

    - 9% of travellers think the Italian capital boasts the world's worst
    taxi drivers when it comes to the quality of driving.

    - 36% voted London taxi drivers as having the best knowledge of their
    city.

    - One in five travellers voted New York as having the most available
    taxis.

    - Despite also being named the most expensive (39%), London's taxi 
    drivers fared the best across a number of categories including 
    friendliness, cleanliness, quality of driving, safety and knowledge of 
    the area.

Alison Couper, director of Communications, Hotels.com, commented: "It's great to hear that London has won the best taxi vote for the third year running. The journey to your accommodation should not be a stressful or off-putting experience as it can severely taint your view of a destination, if bad.

"A friendly, knowledgeable taxi driver helps form a positive first impression and they are most definitely an important part of any country's tourism industry."

Bob Oddy, general secretary of the London Taxi Drivers Association, said: "Taxi surveys are fast becoming a one horse race. I can't recall any independent research during recent years which has not placed London cabbies top of the list. I'm confident that the vigorous Knowledge of London training which our drivers are required to undertake is the bedrock of our success."

Notes to editors

* Research was conducted amongst over 1900 travellers worldwide 11-28th May, 2010.

** Includes EMEA, LATAM, APAC and USA

About Hotels.com

As part of the Expedia group which operates in all major markets, Hotels.com offers more than 120,000 quality hotels, B&Bs and serviced apartments worldwide with a wide choice of New York hotels ( http://www.hotels.com/de1506246/hotels-new-york-new-york/) and Boston hotels (http://www.hotels.com/de1401516/hotels-boston-massachusetts/), through to hotels in Chicago (http://www.hotels.com/de1497539/hotels-chicago-illinois/) and hotels in San Francisco ( http://www.hotels.com/de1493604/hotels-san-francisco-california/). If a customer can find the same deal for less on a prepaid hotel, Hotels.com will match it. Hotels.com benefits from one of the largest hotel contracting teams in the industry negotiating the best rates for its customers, plus there are 1.8m reviews from users who have actually stayed in the hotels to ensure customers make an informed choice when booking. Hotels.com has recently launched its Welcome Rewards customer loyalty programme in the UK, where customers can earn a free night for every ten nights stayed (terms and conditions apply). Hotels.com won the Gold Award for best hotel booking site in Webuser magazine in February 2009.

    
    For more information:

    Cordy Griffiths
    PR Manager
    Expedia.com Ltd
    42 Earlham Street
    London
    WC2H 9LA
    +44(0)20-7019-2268