doxa.comunicación | 30, pp. 211-227 | 213

January-June of 2020

Leticia Rodríguez Fernández and Antonio Castillo Esparcia

ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978

Herrero (2013) carries out a more in-depth analysis of her Master’s dissertation, which includes the degrees, postgraduate studies, and specialist degrees in Protocol. Of the 81 universities examined, 47 had studies in communication, and 24 offered events management, protocol, and/or institutional relations subjects. The author highlights that between 2005 and 2013 protocol, together with event management and institutional relations, gained greater visibility within the universities that went from offering 8 postgraduate studies to 13. (Herrero, 2013: 25)

At an international level, Herrero y Perelló (2016) compare the curricula of 31 degrees in the area of protocol and event management in 9 countries in the European Union (Germany, Austria, Denmark, Spain, France, Ireland, Iceland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom). Among the most interesting conclusions is that the subjects “Event Management Techniques”, “Event Planning”, and “Event Industry” are included in almost all curricula. However, the authors indicate that the “more specific subjects of some areas of event management are reflected to a lesser extent” (p.452). This suggests that specialisation is avoided, and degrees tend to have more generic and broad-based subjects. Likewise, languages and new technologies are not offered in most degrees.

Portugal, Becerra, and Victoria (2016) carry out a similar analysis of the degrees in Spain. Part of the curricula is taught in degrees from the same universities. Therefore, it could be inferred that existing teaching staff needs to develop content. The authors also examined the bibliography of the subjects, exploring the teaching guides, and concluded that the contents were based on recent publications. The founders of Protocol were left out of the content.

Saavedra and Perlado (2007) analyse communication studies in Spain, including undergraduate and graduate degrees and own degrees from the perspective of communication management. Protocol and ceremonial appear in most of the studies as a specific skill; the content of the “corporate brand sphere” is given the next most importance in which the direction, structure, and development of events, Protocol, ceremonial and symbolism are included.

1.2. Perspective of protocol professionals

Usually, event management and Protocol have been taken on by professionals coming from information studies that complemented this training with postgraduate courses or were trained by experts in Protocol. According to “The Annual Report of the Journalistic Profession, 2017”, among the main activities of the self-employed in communication, event management represents 23.9%. Also in the “State of Communication in Spain” (2018) we find activities directly or indirectly related to Protocol such as events, which represents 2.3% of the communication professionals’ tasks, relations with government, public affairs and lobbying (18.6%) or international communication (7.5%).

According to the report “The Events Sector in Spain” written by the Event Managers Association- EMA (2018), “the current event manager profile in Spain is mainly female (76%), senior (between 40 and 40 years old) and highly educated”. Concerning university studies, 31.7% of the profiles came from the Tourism Degree and 29.6% from the Advertising and Public Relations degree.

Spain is also a leader in event management. According to the International Association Meetings Market 2017, it is ranked as the fourth country in the world with the highest number of events and the second in estimated participation. The fact that it is well-positioned is also reflected in other sector reports such as “The event as a generator of strategic value” (2018)