AS a student in college she was a poetry-contest winner; as a public relations manager for a hotel she won the "Excellent PR Manager" award from the Shanghai Public Relations Association; as director of marketing and sales, she was crowned "Excellent Director of Marketing & Sales" by the China Hotel Association.

Lily Gao, in her 40s, is now the director of marketing and sales at the Regal International East Asia Hotel, a five-star international hotel in Shanghai. After working in the hospitality industry for 21 years, Gao has proved herself to be a person who reaches the pinnacle of success in whatever field she involves herself.

After only a short talk with Gao you quickly come to understand why her success comes with a reputation for wisdom and diligence.

A textbook example

After graduating from Shanghai Tourism College, the first national tourism college in China, Gao grabbed the chance to take a three-month-internship in Hong Kong and the "Hotel Management" course of the Hong Kong Chinese University and Shanghai Jiaotong University, which proved to be a turning point in her career.

"I began to know what real hospitality is and how challenging it can be," Gao said. "I was so thirsty to learn from sales marketing experience that my instructor even broke the law by letting me copy their marketing documents."

One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other. Gao's diligence and wisdom found an opportunity to express themselves after her return to Shanghai.

In 1987, Gao learned that famous Japanese actress Nakano Ryoko, who had starred in the popular movie "Manhunt", would be travelling to Shanghai with her husband for their honeymoon.

Leaving no stone unturned, Gao finally made contact with the star and invited her to stay at the Jin Sha Hotel, a new three-star-hotel where she worked. At that time there were no five-star hotels in Shanghai.

As soon as Nakano arrived she knew she had made the right decision. She was welcomed by a traditional Chinese-themed wedding ceremony and bridal chamber that the hotel had prepared for her.

Greatly moved and impressed, she insisted on sending Gao a gift card bearing a message written in Japanese, saying: "Thank you for the wonderful arrangement! This Shanghai lady is great!"

The following day, the news that a "Newly Married Japanese Film Star Couple Spent an Unexpected Honeymoon Night in a Foreign Country" spread throughout the city and abroad. Room 1009, where the Japanese couple had stayed, became the most desirable one in the hotel. Gao's talents and ability, demonstrated on this occasion, won her recognition throughout the industry for the first time.

She was invited as the first PR manager by Sheraton Hua Ting Hotel, and nominated as council member of Shanghai Public Relations Association.

Today, Gao's case is still included as a classical example in the college textbook.

Turning the tide

An expert is someone who takes your watch and then tells you the time. As the DOM for a hotel which received less than 5 per cent of its bookings through Global Distribution System (others such as the Marriott, Sheraton and Westin may reach more than 20-25 per cent), Gao stunned the industry by taking second position for occupancy rates among the city's international five-star hotels in 2003, and hosting and organizing almost all the big events held in Shanghai during recent years, from the 1,500 guests of the Fortune Global Forum' 99 Opening Fireworks Cocktail along the Bund, to the 2001 APEC Business Advisory Council Conference. It was the only APEC conference hotel in Puxi in Oct 2001.

Rich experience in event organizing and frequent creative programmes also contributed to another career milestone for Gao, winning for the Renaissance Yangtze Hotel, a four-star hotel she worked for at the time, the welcome cocktail and cruise for US President Bill Clinton when he visited Shanghai in 1998.

"The organizer said that among all the bidding proposals for the event, ours was the thickest and best," Gao said. "Our around-the-clock work finally bore fruit and was highly appreciated by the organizer, so we stood out from the rest."

The SARS crisis a year ago was an industry disaster for China, with demand cut down to an unprecedented minimum. The Regal International East Asia Hotel was the only profitable hotel in Shanghai during that period. "Close market repositioning is the key to winning the battle... while passion and invention can make impossible things happen," Gao said.

"Gao's intimate knowledge of the market and solid business acumen enabled the hotel to realize exceptional financial results in a very tough (SARS) year," said Brian Dechant, general manager of the Regal International East Asia Hotel.

Expressing gratitude for her MBA course, Gao admitted scientific business methodology had broadened her vision and business opportunities.

"I like reading and learning no less than I did years ago," Gao said. "The SARS crisis was just a version of many similar crises available to be studied."

A loving family

What poses a difficult problem for most career woman seems to be an easy matter for Gao - balancing the relationship between work and family. "I don't think they are incompatible. I have a beloved husband and also a lovely son," Gao said with a chuckle, "you cannot imagine how considerate my son is to me."

She said that when the boy was only seven years old, he gave up the chance of a BBQ at a resort, which he had been looking forward to for months, in order to stay with his sick mom and take care of her. "We are very intimate," she said. "He knows how much I love him so he loves me that way also." Gao insists that even though her hectic work allows her only limited time to care for her family, her husband, who also works as an executive in the hotel business, and her son are both very understanding.