NEW ORLEANS The rebuilding of the tourism and visitor industry in New Orleans is moving forward with hotels beginning to reopen at a more rapid pace and an upbeat assessment of city attractions being issued.

At the same time, the city is struggling on other fronts, prompting Mayor Ray Nagin to propose creation of a downtown casino district that would generate new revenue and represent a massive increase in the amount of legalized gambling in the city.

Nagin says his "out-of-the-box" idea will "jump-start" New Orleans' ravaged economy.

The mayor envisions a gaming district that would encompass Canal and Poydras streets between Claiborne Avenue and the Mississippi River. Every hotel with 500 rooms or more would be permitted to offer casino gambling.

Currently, state law limits land-based gambling in New Orleans to a single casino, now operated by Harrah's at the foot of Canal Street.

Admitting he is desperate to bolster New Orleans' depleted treasury, Nagin said the casino district would allow more than a half-dozen large hotels to open gambling halls that would compete directly with Harrah's. He reiterated that the city faces dire financial straits and needs a huge expansion of legalized gambling to generate needed revenue.

Without drastic action to spark development in the city's port and tourism industries, Nagin said, "we're going to limp along (financially) for the next three to five years."

Asked whether he feared his idea would put New Orleans' cultural traditions at risk, turning the city into a southern Las Vegas, Nagin said he's not worried. He said New Orleans has much more to offer than Las Vegas, citing its food, architecture, the French Quarter and Mardi Gras, among other cultural touchstones.

"I don't ever see a scenario where New Orleans becomes Las Vegas," he said.

Separately, the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau reports that the French Quarter and most of the citys hospitality infrastructure have largely survived Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The CVB also announced plans to move back into its headquarters at 2020 St. Charles Ave. on Oct. 15. The CVB Web site is www.neworleanscvb.com.

Meanwhile, the list of hotels reopening in the city continues to grow.

The citys flagship Marriott, the JW Marriott New Orleans, officially reopened. Marriott is one of the largest hotel operators in New Orleans with 15 properties. Six more Marriotts are expected to join the JW Marriott in reopening shortly to welcome guests and help return tourism to New Orleans.

Here are the projected reopening dates for other New Orleans area hotels: DoubleTree New Orleans and the Hotel Monteleone (this month); Holiday Inn French Quarter (November); Chateau Lemoyne (November); Hotel Monaco (December); Maison Dupuy (January); Omni Hotels (this month); Sonesta Hotels (this month); Hilton Hotels (this month); InterContinental Hotel (January); Sheraton New Orleans (this month); W French Quarter (this month); W New Orleans (this month); Hyatt Regency (January 2007); LePavillon (open), and Le Cirque (open with availability).

Limited taxi cab, shuttle and rental car services are available in the city.

Most observers do not expect New Orleans to begin regularly hosting overnight visitors and tourists until early next year.

One of the principal reasons for the delay is because more than 400,000 people left homeless by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will remain in hotel rooms well beyond the Oct. 15 deadline set for their relocation. In fact, the relocation program is being extended indefinitely.

Efforts to move and house evacuees in mobile homes, on cruise ships or in market-rate apartments have largely failed. Instead, people have migrated from shelters into hotel rooms that are arranged by the Red Cross and paid by the federal government. Earlier this month, the Red Cross reported that 438,030 people were living in 141,300 hotel rooms, with most of those rooms closest to the areas of devastation.

The Travel Industry Association reports that Hurricane Katrina could cost the Gulf Coast region up to $5 billion in lost tourism revenue by the end of the year. About 260,000 travel-related jobs are expected to be lost either temporarily or for the long term in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the TIA said.