Economic Forecast for Luxury Hotels: Horst Schulze of Capella Hotels Believes in Upscale Demand

Forget the gloomy economic forecast surrounding the U.S. credit crunch. The global hotel industry will be A-OK, according to Horst Schulze, the former president and CEO of Ritz-Carlton, and founder of the new Capella brand of ultra-luxury hotels. As profiled in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Schulze believes that the boom in luxury hotels will continue worldwide. Proof? He plans to open seven more Capella hotels in the next 10 months. And from the successful booking rates of his Düsseldorf hotel, the Breidenbacher Hof, it looks like all's right in the luxury hotel business.

Pictured at right: the Capella Castlemartyr, the glorious country manor house-hotel in Cork County that sits adjacent to the ruins of a 1000-year-old-castle.