HENDERSON, Ky. — The day Hydro Aluminum Metal Products sponsored an open house to show off its new Henderson plant, company executives invited reporters to join them for breakfast.

        The breakfast wasn't at the plant, at a restaurant in Henderson, or even in Kentucky.

        Instead, it was across the Ohio River in Evansville, Ind., in the Casino Aztar Hotel.

        That scene illustrates one of the biggest problems trying to attract tourism dollars — visitors sleeping and gambling in Indiana.

        A recent study shows the Tourism Cabinet's nine-county Green River region, which includes Owensboro and Henderson, was the only region in Kentucky that did not gain in tourism spending in 2000.

        Tourist expenditures in Kentucky in 2000 were $5.4 billion, up 7.6 percent from the previous year. But tourism expenditures of $230.5 million in the Green River region were down $171,000.

        Tourism Secretary Ann Latta blamed the decline partly on Indiana's five Ohio River gambling boats eating away business.

        Another factor Ms. Latta cited was the dilapidated state of the Executive Inn, which for years was able to draw tourists to its 900-seat showroom with Las Vegas-style acts. It has since been purchased and renovated at a cost of $14 million by an Illinois businessman.

        In Henderson, Ellis Park's shortening its horse racing schedule by 14 days also affected the bottom line, said Marcia Eblen, executive director of the Henderson County Tourist Commission.

        “Just because there's a river that separates us, in a traveler's mind they don't know cities, from counties, from states,” Ms. Eblen said. “We have to work as partners. If we view each other as competitors, we're losing the game.”

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