The government of Cape Verde forecasts that more than 650,000 tourists will visit the country this year, A Semana reports.

The newspaper says the forecast was made by the Central Tourism Authority, which is an arm of the Ministry of Tourism, Investment and Business Development.

Authority director Gil Évora is optimistic about the number of passengers that would land in Cape Verde this cruise season, which begins on October 1. The authority expects 70 calls by cruise ships, 20 more than last season, the newspaper says.

About 48,000 tourists visited Cape Verde in the first half of this year. Official figures indicate that 569,000 visited in 2015, A Semana reports.