JIAYUGUAN, June 16 (Xinhua) -- A month long international tourism festival opened in northwest China's Gansu Province on Tuesday.

Held in Gansu's Jiayuguan City, known for the Jiayu Pass, the westernmost point end of the Great Wall, the 5th Silk Road International Tourism Festival is aimed at boosting tourism cooperation between western provinces and other countries. It attracted travel agencies from 20 countries and regions and many international organizations.

The festival also saw the launch of the Silk Road Tourism Promotion Union.

Under the layout of the Belt and Road Initiative, China kicked off the Silk Road tourism year in January to attract more visitors on the ancient road which linked China with central Asian nations.

Gansu, a key corridor of the historic trading route, is well-known for its cultural relics, including the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang. The number of incoming trips to the province surged 25 percent year on year in 2014.