Queenstown moved up to second place, behind Sydney, in the top 25 destinations in the South Pacific, as voted by millions of travellers.
The resort ranked higher than every other destination in New Zealand and Australia, based on travel website Trip Advisor's traveller reviews and opinions.
Auckland was seventh, Milford Sound eighth, Wellington 15th and Rotorua 20th.
Queenstown was also the only New Zealand location to make Trip Advisor's list of top 25 destinations in the world.
The resort was ranked 12th, three places higher than last year.
Cape Town took the top world spot, Sydney was second, Rio de Janeiro fifth, London eighth, Buenos Aires 17th and Las Vegas 25th.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said in a statement the world result showed the level of the resort's international appeal.
"It's a fantastic achievement which acknowledges our world-class operators, spectacular alpine setting and diversity of experiences which hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the globe come to enjoy each year."
