Detroit casinos no match for LV’s

Wednesday, April 7, 1999 | 10:28 a.m.

Will Detroit turn up the competitive heat on Las Vegas when it introduces casino gambling in August? And how will the new industry effect Northwest Airlines, which operates a hub at Detroit?

Northwest executives at the Active America Travel Summit '99 don't think Detroit's budding casino industry will make many waves for Las Vegas and they don't expect to sell Detroit as a gaming destination to Japanese travelers.

Northwest's 23 flights a week to three Japanese cities are more for Detroit auto executives traveling abroad than for Japanese tourists coming to the United States, said Jun Mokudai, vice president of Northwest's operations in Japan.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which helped sponsor this week's meeting of Japanese tourism professionals at the Four Seasons Hotel, isn't worried about Detroit just yet, even though it will be the largest city in the country with legal casinos.

Jane Wilson, an international marketing sales executive, and Kyosuke Okada, the LVCVA's representative in Japan, concur that Detroit is still no match for Las Vegas.

Still, Northwest officials told travel executives they are anxious to begin serving customers from a new $1.2 billion terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 2001.