The four-man delegation will visit the casinos in the next four months

A casino is being planned as part of Cardiff Bay's Sports Village development.

The visit will allow two councillors and two council officers to see the impact of similar complexes in St Louis, Missouri and Melbourne.

The council says it looking at whether the cost will be met by the developer.

Construction of the Welsh capital's �700m state-of-the-art sports complex started in December 2003.

The Cardiff delegation will spend around 10 days visiting sites in the US and Australia.

It will be led by Cardiff council leader Rodney Berman, who will be joined by fellow Liberal Democrat councillor Nigel Howells, executive member for sport, leisure and culture, council chief executive Byron Davies and Tom Morgan, corporate director operations.

"The estimated cost of the visit will be �6,000," said a council spokeswoman.

"The council is investigating the possibility that the trip might be paid for by the development company Orion Land and Leisure," she said.

The company is the contractor responsible for the casino development - it short listed five operators, after 27 companies expressed an interest in the casino in Cardiff.

It was then narrowed down to two operators in Australia and the States, which will be visited before April.

However the council said it would be "commercially inappropriate" to name the operators under consideration.

The council representatives intend to assess the impact on St Louis and Melbourne.

The casino licensing process will then have to be concluded before any development of a casino could proceed.

The sports village will be home to the Cardiff Devils ice hockey team

Cardiff council hopes the Sports Village will attract 4.5m visitors and create or safeguard more than 3,000 jobs.

The project will be built over the next seven years and will combine sports, leisure and entertainment with waterfront residences, hotels, casinos, bars and restaurants.

Mr Berman, said: "Cardiff is undergoing a period of exciting change which will make the city even more dynamic and today's decision will help us achieve that change sooner rather than later.

"Progressing the casino development will unlock significant financial resources which will pave the way for progress on a new ice rink and associated facilities.

"It will also offer an opportunity to accelerate delivery of the whole project and add substantially to the facilities being developed," he added.

The sports village will regenerate the formerly derelict Ferry Road site near the 500-acre lake created by Cardiff Bay Barrage.

Chair of the council's economic scrutiny committee, Labour councillor, Ralph Cook, said that the purpose of overseas visits should be "open, clean and transparent."

"The committee asks for regular reports to ensure the visits are valuable exercises and beneficial to the people of Cardiff," he said.