Oct. 4--MEXICO CITY--Claiming their industry is in critical condition with the severe travel slump, tourism officials here pushed for the government to legalize casinos in Mexico to attract more tourists. 

The plan would allow casinos only in a few key resorts and along the U.S. border. 

Casino gambling has been illegal here since 1939. Betting is allowed only at horse and dog tracks, cockfights and sports such as jai alai, a game that resembles handball but is played with a rock-hard ball and a basket fastened to players' arms. 

For years, the efforts to legalize casinos have been defeated by opponents who argue these gambling venues would be havens for prostitution, money laundering and drugs. 

Many are against gambling for religious or moral reasons. 

On Wednesday, officials from the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels and Jai-Alai Sports said opening 10 casinos on Mexico's northern border and in tourist destinations such as Cancun and Acapulco would revitalize the tourist industry. 

An initial investment of $1.8 billion to build these casinos would add 115,000 jobs and generate $3 billion yearly, said Miguel Torruco, association president. 

"It is something that could help a lot," said Jonathan Heath, an economist with Jonathan Heath and Associates in Mexico City. "Definitely, whatever idea that will attract tourists should be good for the country." 

He said the problem is that it is difficult to tell what this divided Congress will do. 

The tourism industry, one of Mexico's top four income sources, has been losing money since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because the majority of its foreign visitors are Americans. 

The economic slowdown in the United States also meant fewer tourists in such hot spots as Cancun, where hotel occupancy rates fell by 10 percent the week of the attacks, compared with the same period in 2000. 

In Mexico City, the hotel occupancy rate fell by 18 percent the week of the jet crashes compared with a year ago. Tourism officials are using the lost revenue as an impetus to push legislators to approve a bill in the next few weeks that would allow casinos. 

"If you deputies and senators don't act immediately, we will soon have chaos in the tourism area," said Jose Maria Guardia, director of the jai alai company that operates a horse track and greyhound racetrack in the border city of Juarez. 

Two years ago that company won a Supreme Court case that allowed it to offer skill-based games wherein players accrue points that they can exchange for U.S. dollars. 

It operates a gaming hall in Juarez. Several U.S. companies have shown an interest in opening casinos and gambling centers in Mexico but have been unable to because of Mexican laws. 

Today, Phoenix Leisure Corp. of Las Vegas is expected to open a gambling center in a Mexico City mall. 

That center meets Mexico's laws because it offers lottery tickets and slot machines that give out prizes rather than paying winners with cash. 

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