Hon John Pandazopoulos MP

'We have an ongoing relationship with Emirates, and were instrumental in securing their landing rights in Australian five years ago, he says. 'Now we are looking at extending that relationship, and have been discussing direct flights when Emirates takes delivery of new long-range aircraft'.

From a very low base five years ago, Australia now receives around 25,000 visitors a year from the Gulf region, some 10,000 from the UAE. And trade between the State of Victoria and the Gulf has more than doubled to $250m per annum in that period thanks partly to the hard work of its trade promotion office based in Dubai.

'This is still a developing market for us,' says Mr Pandazopoulos, who was on his first visit to the region. 'Melbourne is an all-the-year-round destination. But our low season coincides with your low season, so that makes for very attractive pricing, and we always beat Sydney on cost comparisons at every level'.

Just 37 years old, Mr Pandazopoulos is a politician to watch, and first became a City councillor at the tender age of 24. He is the youngest minister in the State of Victoria Government, and clearly loves his homeland.

'Victoria has a lot to offer visitors from the Gulf. We have a great combination of a safe environment for families and cultural diversity. That means we have Mosques at hand and Halal food readily available as we have to serve our own 150,000 Arabic speakers.

'We also have all sorts of attractions for visitors from wild life sanctuaries to art galleries and museums to beautiful green parks. This time of year we also have skiing, and you can fly straight to our resorts thanks to a new dedicated airport that opened last year.

'The great thing is that we always have something new coming up. In March we will be opening the new Federation Square in the Melbourne Docklands complete with the Centre for Australian Art and the Australian Centre of the Moving Image. Federation Square has space for 10,000 people and is a major new attraction for the City'.

So far the minister says the global economic downturn has not impacted on Melbourne visitor levels in the way it did during the Asian crisis, and he is confident that Victoria can maintain its 16% per annum growth in visitors from the Gulf region. There are currently 42 flights a week from the Middle East to Australia, with Emirates flying to both Melbourne and Sydney.

Certainly the excellent five-star hotels of the State of Victoria and its enviable lifestyle should continue to attract visitors from this region who want to try something different to Europe and the United States. They will not be disappointed by what is justifiably known as the Lucky Country.