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All hail to the Edinburgh cabbies – they're among world's friendliest
TAXI drivers in Scotland's capital are among the friendliest and best drivers in the world, even if they are not the cheapest, according to a new survey. The poll asked travellers to rate cabbies on several factors, including price, quality of driving and best knowledge of their area.
Of 40 cities rated, Edinburgh came second for quality of driving and fifth for friendliness, alongside Berlin and Sydney. London taxis were judged to be the best overall, despite the city also coming bottom of the table for value for money.
Edinburgh, the only Scottish city included in the survey, saw its taxis escape the bottom ten for expensiveness, but also failed to make the list for good value.
Raymond Davidson, secretary of Edinburgh Taxi Association, welcomed the results. "We are right in the front line for tourists whether they arrive at the airport, the railway station or the bus station," he said.
"We get to see them first, especially during the Festival, so we are very much ambassadors for the city. "Being the first people they meet, how we respond puts them on the footing they have for their holiday so we always like to give them a good welcome to the city."
However, he conceded it was difficult to drive badly, given how much traffic had been slowed down by tramworks. He added: "It's been an absolute nightmare to drive through the roadworks in the city. "Passenger safety is always paramount to us, but we do tend to ease up a lot more now because we can't fly around as much as we used to."
Mr Davidson also defended Edinburgh's reputation for being expensive. "In the current financial climate, we have taken a hit and we are relying on the tourists coming this year," he said. "This summer will tell just what effect the recession will have."
A VisitScotland spokesman said taxi drivers had an "important" role to play in selling Scotland to the world and bringing in billions of pounds to the economy via tourism.
He said: "In this current economic climate, everyone has a role to play and it's imperative we work together to get tourism back on track and to highlight the importance of tourism growth to Scotland.
"It is particularly encouraging to see these results during the year of Homecoming Scotland; this is a unique opportunity to invite people who love Scotland home to join in a national celebration, with taxi drivers having a major role to play in the success of this year and years to come."
Of the 1,400 people across the UK and Europe who responded to the survey, 25 per cent said London and 7 per cent said Edinburgh had the best drivers.
New York and Rome were judged to have the worst taxi drivers. Athens and Bangkok followed with 8 per cent. The friendliest taxi drivers in the world were judged to be from London at 33 per cent, followed by Dublin at 11 per cent.
Alison Couper, the director of communications for Hotels.com, which was behind the survey, said: "It's great to see Edinburgh pulling in the votes for its taxis. The journey to the hotel is often a traveller's first experience of the destination and so a friendly, knowledgeable taxi driver can help form a positive first impression.
"With the weak pound, falling hotel prices and apparently friendly taxi drivers, Edinburgh is an increasingly attractive and affordable destination for visitors."
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