Las Vegas Sands seeking customers from San Diego’s Barona Casino

Las Vegas Sands Corp. has teamed up with the Barona Casino, one of the larger American Indian properties in San Diego, in order to draw more Southern California customers to the Strip.

Customers from the east San Diego County casinos will receive promotional specials at both the Venetian and Palazzo resorts, which will offer those players complimentary hotel, dining and gaming deals.

The relationship may be one of the first of its kind.

“It’s a win-win-win for all of us,” Barona General Manager Rick Salinas said. “Our frequent casino guests occasionally want the Las Vegas experience and their gamblers occasionally want the San Diego experience. We’re not competing with Las Vegas any more. We’re actually complementing Las Vegas and Las Vegas is complementing us.”

The Venetian and Palazzo plan to reach out to Barona customers with various offers.

David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told the San Diego Union-Tribune the arrangement allows the rural Barona to offer customers something it isn’t -- the Strip.

“This is where they see themselves,” Schwartz said. “They see themselves as being in the elite and the luxury tier. Even though Barona is a first-class property, it’s not in Vegas. There are going to be times when people want to go to Vegas.”

Barona’s casino has 2,000 slot machines and 80 table games. The resort also houses the 18-hole championship Barona Creek Golf Club.