Cabbies could soon be giving travel agents and the Internet a run for their money as a rival source of information on booking a holiday.

A group of 40 taxi drivers has just returned from a six-day tour of South Africa, courtesy of the tourist board, and will now be waxing lyrical about their holiday and handing out brochures to their captive audience.

The idea is being used by other tourist boards and tour operators too - London cabs are currently advertising Malta, Malaysia, Club Med and Sandals resorts, said sales firm Taxi Media. But South Africa Tourism, which started paying for cabs to advertise in late 1999, is the only one so far to have given a large group of cabbies a free holiday to get them to talk about the destination.

About 200 of the 20,000 black cabs operating in London carry travel adverts and the idea is spreading to Birmingham and Manchester. The drivers get paid £1,000 for carrying the advertising, but do not receive commis sion for recommending holidays.

Birmingham taxi driver John Jeffries said: 'Some people just want cab drivers to shut up and get on with the job. When they want to chat, most people talk about their holidays.' He added that he didn't push the destination, but just talked about his holiday. 'I tell it the way it is.'

And with cabs being fitted with computer screens and internet access, you could soon find yourself getting travel advice and making a booking all in the space of a cab journey.