UK company USwitch says Wānaka is one of the top-10 most beautiful villages in the world.

Its list was created by measuring the number of social media impressions each location had on picture-sharing platforms Instagram and Pinterest. 

Wānaka came in at sixth place, with more than half a million photos on Instagram. 

It was the only New Zealand location to make the list.

Lake Wānaka Tourism has used social media as part of its tourism engagement strategy.

The company’s general manager Tim Barke told the Wānaka App many visitors develop a special connection with Wānaka.

“People from Wānaka feel like we live in the most special place in the world and it is really nice to see that so many others feel the same way,” he said.

Hikers have experienced queues of up to an hour to get a photo at Roys Peak. PHOTO: Supplied

“We are pretty lucky to be in and share such a special place where there is so much to do and see but it is the feeling of the place that people connect with.”

One location in Australia made the list, coming in fifth ahead of Wānaka.

Mission Beach, located in Northern Queensland, has racked up more than 600,000 social media photos.

First on the list was Oia, Greece, and the second and third most Instagrammed villages were Halong Bay, Vietnam and Göreme, Turkey. 

Also included were Vernazza, Italy; Shirakawa-Go, Japan; Hallstatt, Austria; Furnas, The Azores; and Tobermory; Isle of Mull.

Wānaka Community Board (WCB) chair Barry Bruce said it was great to know Wānaka “still has some profile out there” despite border restrictions.