Recognition for Auckland in TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice Awards

The City of Sails was ranked third behind Brisbane and Queenstown, for the Top Destinations on the Rise in the South Pacific. Photo / Getty Images

A popular travel advice website has named Auckland a top destination.

The City of Sails was ranked third behind Brisbane and Queenstown, for the Top Destinations on the Rise in the South Pacific in TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice Awards for 2015.

The recognition added further weight to the city's efforts to attract domestic and international tourists, said Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development general manager of destination and marketing Vivien Bridgwater.

"It's fantastic to see Auckland pick up an accolade based on visitors' actual experiences of the region and from such a widespread global audience," she said.

Generally seen as a gateway to other tourism destinations in New Zealand, Auckland has increasing numbers of visitors.

"We're coming off a bumper year for tourism, with record numbers of international and domestic visitors to Auckland resulting in a record-breaking contribution of $6.5 billion to the local economy.

"More visitors to the region creates more jobs, more money for the economy and helps support the development of better infrastructure to accelerate the transformation of Auckland to the world's most liveable city."

The award comes after Lonely Planet singled out Waiheke Island as one of the world's top regions, and Conde Nast Traveler included Waiheke Island on the Best Islands in the World List.

However, Jeremy Clarkson recently disagreed, offering one piece of advice to potential visitors to the island: "Don't."