While the casino industries in Las Vegas and Atlantic City – the two largest markets in the United States – continue to struggle, Detroit’s industry is growing. It seems crazy. Detroit’s casino industry is growing? How can that be? Detroit has one of the worst unemployment rates in the country (over 20%) and casinos depend on people with jobs and disposable income to make money.

Detroit’s casino industry is being led by the MGM Grand Detroit. That MGM Grand made a name for themselves by offering an upscale, first-class experience for visitors. Its hotel has a four-diamond rating  by AAA Michigan Forbes Travel Guide rates it a four-star hotel. If you’re looking for luxury in the Detroit metropolitan area, the MGM Grand may be the best around. It’s also one of the few luxurious attractions in Detroit, so there may be a lot of people who can’t afford to go there, but those who can become frequent customers.

MGM Grand Detroit reported $582 million in revenue in 2010, up 6.3% from 2009. The other two casinos in Detroit didn’t do as well. Greektown Casino Hotel saw a 1% increase to $350 million and MortorCity Casino Hotel, at $446 million, saw virtually no change from the previous year. Still, the industry as a whole did much better than the much larger markets in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Detroit’s three casinos totaled $1.4 billion, a 2.9% increase from 2009. Nevada casinos brought in $10.4 billion, which is an increase of only 0.1% from a down year in 2009. Atlantic City did worse, falling by 9.6% to $3.6 billion.

As the economy slowly recovers, each of those industries should start doing better. Vegas and Atlantic City are hurting more than Detroit for a number of reasons, but partly because they rely on tourism and tourism in general has been down since the start of the recession. The MGM Grand Detroit is predicting a big year in 2011.

Tags: Atlantic City Casinos, Detroit casino, Las Vegas casino