New Zealand Cricket announced the Black Caps would play the West Indies in a test, the first of two, at the University Oval from December 11 to 15, and a one-dayer, the first of five, at the Queenstown Events Centre on December 31.
Both fixtures were expected to be allocated, but Dykes was particularly pleased at the scheduling of the test.
"I'm absolutely thrilled. It's perfect timing for us, pre-Christmas when people are still in Dunedin.
"And getting the first test in the series is great. Everything's gone in our favour."
It will be the second test for the redevel-oped University Oval, at which the Black Caps thumped Bangladesh by nine wickets in January.
This will be seen as a much more significant occasion for the fledgling ground, as it hosts one of the established powers of world cricket.
"I think that's fair to say. It's another step up the ladder for us," Dykes said.
"We know we've been given the opportunity to be a top test venue and we have to make the most of that.
"New Zealand Cricket does want to see Otago as a test venue, because they haven't got many test venues."
The one question mark remaining over the University Oval is its size.
Many visitors, most notably New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, have expressed concern at the short boundaries.
The hope is to eventually expand the ground by demolishing part of the former art gallery building that now houses the professional arm of Otago rugby.
For Dykes, the West Indies test is another chance to highlight the importance of making the Oval bigger.
"We've got to make sure the ground is totally satisfactory. That means enlarging it and enlarging the capacity.
"Realistically, we couldn't change it in time for this test.
But it does put pressure on us and on the city to make sure the changes we want aren't too far away."
The Oval almost had a shaky start to its test career when a first-class game before the Bangladesh test finished inside two days and the state of the pitch was blasted by Auckland coach Mark O'Donnell.
NZC commissioned a report into the pitch but decided it could stand up, and so it eventually proved.
Otago will play a four-day day game on the Oval in November as something of a trial run for the test.
It has been a wet winter and rugby is still being played on the Oval but Dykes said the ground would have no problem draining and preparing for the summer of cricket.
The Queenstown one-day international in the New Year period is now well entrenched, and the game against the West Indies will be expected to attract the usual holiday crowd.
The Black Caps' other test against the West Indies is at McLean Park in Napier, while the other one-dayers are in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Napier, and the two twenty/20 games are in Auckland and Hamilton.
Later in the summer, India will arrive for two tests (Hamilton and Wellington) and five one-dayers (Napier, Hamilton, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch).
Their tour will start with a twenty/20 international - India is the world champion at the abbreviated game - and include a three-day game at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, in Lincoln.
