International Tourism Festival kicked off here on Wednesday with participation of 165 countries, including Kuwait, represented by the tourism sector in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, which will strengthen the position of Kuwait as a tourist destination. Spain's Crown Prince Felipe de Bourbon and Princess Letizia opened the festival in Madrid's fairgrounds and is expected to go on until next Sunday, with participation of more than 9,000 tourism institutions and companies with more than 200,000 officials in the tourism sector from 165 countries. The Kuwaiti delegation participating in the International Festival include several Kuwaiti companies topped by Touristic Enterprises Company and Kuwait Tourism Services. Such participation is the fifth for the State of Kuwait in the International Festival of Tourism, and it aims to strengthen Kuwait's position as a tourist destination. A total of 8979 companies from 167 countries participated in the festival in 2013, and 7202 journalists from 59 countries.