Local businesses are despondent over a Tokyo investment fund’s recent decision to suspend a plan to build a large-scale resort in Tomakomai, Hokkaido — a plan that would lure tourists and create jobs for locals.

Since the city had high hopes for the project, along with a plan to construct a casino resort nearby, the suspension is expected to force Tomakomai to rethink its tourism and business strategies.

Tokyo-based investment fund MA Platform Inc. had planned to build the resort south of an "integrated resort" that also houses a casino. The plan was to construct luxury hotels and condominiums aimed at affluent foreign visitors on a plot of about 1,000 hectares, opening as early as 2023.