Little research on public relations has been conducted in the settings of Macau. The purposes of this study were to investigate how public relations is practiced in the Macau hospitality industry and to what extent public relations professionals practice strategic management, and to examine whether some theories are applicable to the public relations practice in Macau. Strategic public relations management in this thesis refers to public relations' involvement in the hotel's overall strategic management process, managing the relationships between the hotel and its publics in order to reach its goals. The researcher interviewed seven public relations heads from six four-star and five-star hotels in Macau. Findings showed that pubic relations generally did not play an important role in the hotel's strategic management although some directly or indirectly participated in this process. Findings also suggested several factors at the personal, departmental and organizational levels that influenced public relations role in the hotels and its participation in the hotel's overall strategic management. According to the conclusions, the researcher has refined two normative models to construct her theory of public relations in hospitality industry. These models apply general public relations theories to public relations of the specific industry of hospitality in Macau. The model of strategic management of public relations for the Macau hospitality industry describes the way public relations can contribute more effectively to the hotel's overall strategic management by taking the consequences other departments may have on the hotel's publics into consideration. The model of symmetry for the Macau hospitality industry illustrates the importance of symmetric communication among departments, hotels, and their publics.