Jun. 23--The question is something of a leading economic indicator, a tell-tale sign that things aren't so good with the national or regional economies. 

Its phrasing is simple: Is Las Vegas recession-proof? 

The answer is harder to come by. 

A quartet of hotel and casino industry bosses fielded that query Friday during a panel discussion at the Las Vegas Convention Center on the final day of the International Hotel & Restaurant Show. 

The city's casino industry, they agreed, has been insulated from the challenges that have cut into business and leisure travel to other major U.S. cities. 

Orlando, Fla., and Washington, D.C., have experienced a softening in their tourism markets, the speakers noted. 

"We're not seeing anything terrible from our standpoint," said Park Place Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Tom Gallagher. 

Gallagher and the others pointed to Las Vegas' growing dependence on convention business with its one- to two-year advance bookings and free-spending conventioneers as a major reason for their upbeat assessment. 

They also cited the long-standing argument that Las Vegas is a value destination that appeals to price-wary travelers during good and bad economic times. 

A recent report by the Wall Street investment banking firm Bear, Stearns & Co., concludes that Las Vegas faces tough competition for summer tourists from vacation spots in Southern California and Orlando, although the desert city will probably see modest visitor growth because it has a "cost-efficient" product. 

Yet, there's a troubling nexus created by rising gasoline and energy prices, corporate layoffs and volatile stock markets that led to a decline in drive-in traffic from Southern California during the first quarter of the year, casino industry analysts note. 

During the first four months of the year, the total number of visitors coming to Las Vegas was up a less-than-expected 0.9 percent, with the number of passengers flying into McCarran International Airport up 5.8 percent, while the number of cars driving Interstate 15 to Las Vegas was off 2.4 percent, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. 

For companies like Mandalay Resort Group that could be especially troubling because a large percentage of its 18,000 Strip hotel rooms are filled by those drive-in visitors. 

That said, Mandalay Resort Group President Glenn Schaeffer's assessment of the local economic trend was upbeat. 

"California with rolling blackouts," said Schaeffer, "isn't going to be that much different this summer than last." 

The total number of visitors to Las Vegas increased 4.6 percent during the third quarter of last year with the number of passengers arriving at McCarran International Airport up 7 percent, but drive-in traffic from Southern California was down 4.9 percent, according to the authority. 

MGM Grand President and Chief Operating Officer Bill Hornbuckle noted that his property's parent company, MGM Mirage, controls nearly 60 percent of the city's high-end baccarat market -- a market that he argued makes the company "quasi-recession- proof." 

About 80 percent of the world's top gamblers are from Asia, which produces the bulk of the Strip's big-stakes gambling baccarat players. 

So what does that mean for the prospects of a Las Vegas recession? 

"I understand the gaming industry is recession-proof," quipped Dieter Huckestein, a Hilton Hotels executive vice president who was the one nongaming guy on the panel. 

"It is," Gallagher quickly replied. 

"It is," Hornbuckle said, striking a me-too tone before airing a concern. 

"I think," he said, "we can talk ourselves into this recession." 

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