Tourists visit Blue Moon Valley at the foot of the Yulong Snow Mountain in Lijiang City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)

The 2022 China International Travel Mart (CITM) kicked off Friday in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, after a hiatus of one year due to the COVID-19 epidemic.Exhibitors from 71 countries and regions are attending the event online or offline, and officials from embassies and consulates of 31 countries have also joined the expo, according to the organizers.The three-day travel fair, with an exhibition area of 80,000 square meters, features various exhibition zones comprising seven themes such as culture and museums, overseas tourism and Yunnan tourism.For the first time, the expo has set up a special zone for eight renowned museums of the country, including the Palace Museum and the National Museum of China, as well as an intelligent tourism zone to display applications of digital products and solutions.Founded in 1998, the CITM has grown into one of the largest and most influential tourism expos in the Asia-Pacific region.