Hebei and Tyrol join hands in the latest example of sporting collaboration

China's rapid development of ice and snow sports over the past two years, fueled by the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, has led to more partnerships being formed with European winter sports destinations.

The latest such example is the collaboration between Hebei province and the Austrian state of Tyrol.

Chongli district in Zhangjiakou, Hebei, is staging most of the skiing events during the ongoing Winter Olympics, while Innsbruck, the Tyrolean capital, has twice hosted the Winter Games.

Florian Phleps, head of the Tyrol Tourism Board, said it is only natural for the two regions to establish ever-closer cooperation due to "the important common denominator".

"Both Hebei and Tyrol have hosted Olympic Games and both are the most important skiing destinations in their respective countries. From this point on, we want to learn much more about each other," he said.

Phleps firmly believes that China is well equipped to stage the Winter Olympics during the pandemic.

"There have been so many precautions in the past few months, and the whole country is extremely attentive when it comes to new cases, so we strongly believe China can successfully host the Games," he added.

As one of the original Olympic aims is to achieve peace between competing athletes and nations, Phelps said this is also the case for Beijing 2022, and he hopes that athletes worldwide come to the Chinese capital to bring people and nations together during this international sporting event.

Innsbruck first hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964, establishing the region's reputation as a popular winter sports destination. It was no fluke when the city was chosen to host the 1976 Winter Games after Denver, the original host city in the United States, withdrew at short notice.

Phleps said the two Winter Olympics in Innsbruck played an important role in promoting Tyrol as a leading Alpine winter sports destination.

"All the stadiums, tracks and other facilities for the Winter Olympics are still functioning perfectly. Meanwhile, many other Tyrolean tourist destinations, especially those for Alpine skiing, including our well-known glacier skiing areas, are also profiting (from the Olympic legacy)," he said.

Beijing's successful bid in 2015 to host the 2022 Winter Olympics stimulated rapid growth of the domestic winter sports sector.

To make winter sports sustainable after the Olympics, Phleps said: "It is not enough to give some people a pair of skis, a track and a cable car to get up the mountain. We are talking about fully fledged infrastructure programs and the development of a long-term and intrinsic interest among all kinds of people in winter sports, which until now have not been that well known in China.

"In Tyrol, we refer to 'winter sports culture', which took many decades to develop," he said. "Getting this done in a few years seems to be an impossible task. On the other hand, if anyone could rise to this challenge, it was probably China."