BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Macao Special Administrative Region will help train tourism service personnel in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, to prepare for the 24th Winter Olympic Games in 2022, Wednesday's China Daily reported.

The Institute for Tourism Studies in Macao and Zhangjiakou Tourism Development Committee have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation, according to which the institute will send teachers to Zhangjiakou to train the city's tourism management officials, travel agencies, hotels and scenic spots and will also invite industry-related people to attend training classes at the school.

As Zhangjiakou is to co-host the 2022 Winter Olympics with Beijing, the city has become a new tourism hot spot, receiving more than 70 million tourists last year, up 17.5 percent year-on-year.

"It's an honor to have the opportunity to participate in our nation's preparation for the Winter Olympics," Ian Mei-kun, vice-president of the institute, was quoted as saying. "We will use our strengths to cooperate with the host city to further improve tourism services."