Davenport officials who traveled to the Global Gaming Expo this week hope what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.

Mayor Bill Gluba, Alderman Gene Meeker, City Administrator Craig Malin and one staff member went to Las Vegas to look for a company willing to take over the license currently held by Isle of Capri Inc.

The Global Gaming Expo — called the G2E by industry experts — at the Las Vegas Convention Center is a global-scope gathering of gaming industry principals and exhibitors.

The experience was positive, with several contacts made, the Davenport officials said after the trip.

“We accomplished the mission we set out to do, which was to generate interest in Davenport,” Gluba said Friday.

“I’m under no illusions that something will happen overnight,” he added. “This is not an overnight process, but it is a process to find prospects.”

Malin described the number of contacts gleaned from the show as “a stack of business cards,” while Gluba put the number of prospects at more than a dozen. Those they spoke to expressed various levels of interest.

“People wanted to stop by right after Thanksgiving and take a look at the opportunity, and we encouraged them to do that,” Malin said.

After the Isle of Capri announced last year it would build a multimillion-dollar, land-based facility in Bettendorf while rebranding Rhythm City as a Lady Luck property — traditionally the company’s brand for smaller casinos serving local markets — the city hired a consultant to determine the value of the city’s license.

The report by Cummings Associates — the executive summary of which was included in the city’s marketing material — pegged the value at $149 million to $169 million, depending on location and said an investor could expect $82 million to $88 million annually in gambling revenues. By comparison, the Rhythm City posted revenue of $58.2 million for fiscal 2009 and $56.7 million for fiscal 2008.

The city paid $10,380 for its booth at the G2E, described as small but well-located in the exhibit hall. Before the expo, the city sent out more than 200 packets of information to gaming companies worldwide, advising them of Davenport’s presence at the event. Several sites on the downtown riverfront as well as the Interstate 80 and 280 corridors were promoted as potential casino locations.

Davenport was the only city represented at the G2E, Gluba and Malin said. Gluba worked the exhibit hall to drum up interest, but by the time the expo ended, representatives from several companies had stopped by the booth.

“I didn’t pull a single slot machine, but we worked hard,” Gluba said of the foursome’s efforts.

While Gluba doesn’t expect a return trip to the G2E, he isn’t shy about going where he can promote Davenport.

“We’ll go where is necessary to bring jobs to Davenport,” he said.

The Riverboat Development Authority is keeping an eye on the city’s progress, executive director Mary Ellen Chamberlin said. The RDA holds the license for the Rhythm City Casino.

“We’re very aware the city is looking at potential developers, and we have agreed that if there is an operator that wants to make the kind of development the city is looking at, we’re willing to sit down and work with them,” she said. “In the meantime, we have  a very good working relationship with IOC, and we’re still making money.

“We don’t want to look at any scenario that would put RDA in a position to not make income for a period of time.”

The Isle of Capri didn’t comment before or after the city’s Las Vegas trip.

Malin didn’t have the travel expenses totaled but said the most significant item was the $10,380 booth rental. The city council has budgeted $100,000 for marketing of the casino license.