20 Feb 2008
Travellers Vote London Cabs The Best In The World
Research finds London's cabbies make the best first impression as taxis
rank as top transport from airport to hotel.
London’s taxis have been voted the best in the world, a poll of international travellers has shown.
Almost half (44%) of the 3,300 travellers from France, Germany, Spain and the UK surveyed by
Hotels.com said that London’s black cabs were the best.
The city’s taxis fended off competition from New York (favourite amongst 15% of travellers) and
Madrid (which secured 11% of the vote). The world’s favourite online hotels site* found that Paris
and Barcelona completed the top five.
Rank City % of votes cast for top 10
- London 44.3%
- New York 15.4%
- Madrid 11.4%
- Paris 8.4%
- Barcelona 5.1%
- Berlin 4.6%
- Dubai 2.9%
- Edinburgh 2.7%
- Las Vegas 2.6%
- Sydney 2.6%
UK visitors’ opinions of London taxis are doubly important, the research found, because cabs are
the most-used method of travel from airport to hotel. Almost two thirds (64%) of travellers said that
they take a cab over public transport when arriving in a city. London’s cabs are one of the first
experiences that many travellers will have of the UK: it seems that they are making a good first
impression.
David Roche, Senior Vice President of Hotels.com, comments, “It has been known for taxis
across the world to get a hard time, but our comprehensive poll has shown that taxis are
convincingly the most popular transport method when it comes to transferring from the airport to
hotel. With such a large number of people taking a taxi from the airport, the taxi experience often
forms a traveller’s first impression of a destination. Where the taxi drivers are less service
orientated, it could have a negative effect on the traveller’s willingness to return.”
Bob Oddy, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, comments "Our
members are trained to the highest standards and dedicated to driving as a full time profession, and
therefore their skill, knowledge and expertise is second to none. It is this great service that shapes
travellers first experience in the UK and we are very proud of that."
Other countries were not as lucky as London and those found languishing in the bottom five
spots after gathering the least amount of support were Rio de Janeiro (0.57%), Moscow (0.49%),
Cape Town (0.49%), Shanghai (0.47%) and Santiago de Chile (0.24%).
The poll, which took into account the opinions of over 3300 responses from across Europe
including France, Germany, Spain and the UK, saw users of
www.hotels.com asked not only to rate
their favourite cities for taxis, but also their top taxi destinations for cleanliness, value, quality of
driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and availability.
London’s black Hackney cabs scored well with European respondents taking the number one
position in all criteria. New York came in second in every category apart from safety, where Paris
out-ranked the Big Apple. Other destinations that scored well in the individual criteria include:
- Bangkok and Hong Kong scoring highly on value
- Berlin and Edinburgh putting in a strong showing based on quality of driving
- The traditional Irish craic saw Dublin race up the ranking for friendliness
- Zurich and Berlin entered the top five for safety
- Las Vegas scored highly for availability of taxis
At the other end of the scale, in the individual categories it was Santiago de Chile that claimed
the bottom spot for value, knowledge of the area, safety and availability, whilst Mexico City came
bottom for cleanliness, Marrakech for quality of driving and Moscow for friendliness.
Those questioned were also given the opportunity to highlight anecdotal stories about taxi journeys
they had taken, with some drivers going above and beyond the call of duty to make the arrival
process a pleasure for travellers and some taking their passengers lives in their hands. Some of the
stories highlighted include:
- A taxi driver in Granada, Spain, who could not find the passengers destination charged
them no fare and entertained them with local songs en route - Taxi drivers in Tokyo who wear white gloves and stop the meter if they take a wrong turn
- A taxi driver in St Petersburg who sang the Opera ‘Carmen’ throughout the journey
- A taxi driver in Tokyo who returned his passengers guitar to his hotel after it had been left in
the back of the taxi. - A couple complained about being stalked through Marrakech by a cabbie wanting to ensure
a return fare on their journey - Taxi drivers getting into physical fights with other drivers or pedestrians during a fare
- A driver in Buenos Aires crashing through a parking toll barrier on leaving the airport
- A Cypriot taxi driver involved in a high speed police chase
Source: Hotels.com
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