A new Hotels.com poll of more than 10,000 travellers from around the world has found that the Eiffel Tower has topped the Taj Mahal, Statue of Liberty and Golden Gate Bridge to be crowned the World's Favourite Landmark.

The iconic Parisian tower was named the greatest structure by nearly one-in-six (16%) travellers from five continents included in the survey, well-ahead of its nearest rivals, St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Rome and India's Taj Mahal, which came a distant second and third place with
just 9% and 8% of the vote respectively, according to leading accommodation website Hotels.com.

Three American icons - the Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty - made up the remainder of the top six spots, each sharing 7% of traveller's votes.  London, meanwhile, missed out on the top ten altogether as Big Ben made eleventh spot and the London Eye came in at number 12.

Alison Couper, Communications Director for Hotels.com, said: "This survey shows that the pull of famous landmarks is so strong that many people travel to a place especially to see them. These buildings really do have a hold on our imaginations."

Hotels.com research showed that over six in ten (60.5%) of UK travellers have travelled somewhere just to see a specific landmark building.

However, while the Eiffel Tower is a clear winner among travellers globally, British tourists are far more divided about their favourite landmarks around the world.

Although the Parisian monument came out on top in the list of Britain's favourite blockbuster buildings, it was only a single percent ahead of St Peter's Basilica. The Taj Mahal, Golden Gate Bridge and Empire State Building all followed closely behind securing 8% of the vote each.

Hotels.com found that buildings have the most sway over intrepid Spanish travellers, 83% of whom said that they had visited a city simply to take in the splendour of its architectural icons.  A similar proportion of Italian travellers (80.4%) said they had made trips to take in one landmark
building.

Alison Couper, concluded: "This shows that a city really is defined in tourists' minds by its iconic buildings and, with the falling cost of travel and hotel prices both at home and abroad, there has never been a better time to visit a few of the world's greatest buildings to fill up a photo album or two."