The Otago Museum is likely to attract more overseas tourists, through its recognition by a US-based internet travel site, museum staff say.
Museum marketing and development co-ordinator Juliet Pierce said links with the site, TripAdvisor, were already boosting the museum's international profile.
The museum had recently had about 90 reviews from travellers on the site, 56 rating it excellent, 30 deeming it very good, and four average, with none regarding it as poor.
The museum's Tropical Forest, home to about 1000 tropical butterflies, is cited by travellers as one of the museum's leading attractions.
The internet site last month provided the museum with a certificate of excellence, reflecting its overall rating of 4.5 out of 5. This effectively ranked it as among the best tourism operators in the world, Ms Pierce said.
One of the best forms of promotion was word-of-mouth comment from previous visitors.
The site effectively acted as a kind of international forum, allowing prospective travellers to gain advice from others who had recently visited a wide range of venues.
This was important for the Otago Museum, allowing it to be seen by many prospective visitors across the world as a "very high quality visitor attraction".
And Dunedin, with its many tourist attractions, would also benefit from its links with the site, she said.
