The port city of Tomakomai, Japan is weighing the pros and cons of an integrated resort (IR) development. According to GGRAsia, the city in Hokkaido Prefecture has included IR promotion in a public policy proposal to span the next four years, from 2023 to 2027. The public may submit comments on the idea through January 16.
Mayor Hirofumi Iwakura said the city’s Uenae area would be an ideal resort location.
In recent years, Tomakomai, part of Hokkaido Prefecture, was said to be interested in bidding on an IR. But in November 2019, prefectural Governor Naomichi Suzuki put a stop to immediate speculation, saying Hokkaido would wait until the next round.
Only two IR bids were filed with the central government in April: a proposal by MGM Resorts and Orix Corp. to develop an $8 billion IR on an island in Osaka Bay, and a plan by Casinos Austria International to build a $3.8 billion IR in Sasebo City.
