“I don’t look for the biggest company,” said Pablo Comino, Travel Manager for Real Madrid for more than 20 years, speaking to delegates in a breakout session at this year’s Advantage Travel Partnership Conference in Madrid.

“Instead, I look for the person and I will build a relationship over time, not just as a client and supplier. That person might move through six companies, and I might not even know the name of their company right now, but I will still work with them. I’ve used the same Destination Management Company in London that I’ve used for 15 years.”

The nature of football makes trusted supplier relationships even more essential, Comino explained.

His team manages travel to national and international tours and major tournaments for the men’s and women’s football teams, elite basketball, academy teams, often under intense time pressure and uncertainty.

Schedules change constantly and fixtures may not be confirmed until weeks before kick-off, while European competition draws create last-minute logistical challenges across hotels, flights and ground transport.

“You may know the weekend, but not the day or the time,” said Camino.

This means building up relationships with hoteliers where they will agree to block out rooms for four nights until the match date is confirmed. For overseas games, it means always booking rooms for the night before and after the game, in case flights are delayed and the players need to have a late check-out. “If the team has to sleep at the airport – like the Barcelona team a few years ago – I will be fired!”

These relationships become even more valuable during times of disruption, he told the TMC leaders in the session, recalling occasions when entire cities were effectively sold out because of conferences or major events.

During one fixture in Barcelona, held at the same time as the Mobile World Congress, hotel rooms reached €3,000 per night, he said.

Comino, who previously worked as a travel agent for Viajes El Corte Inglés and before that for Spanish rail company Renfe, believes it’s vital to work with long-standing DMCs, hotels and transport providers that understand the club’s other operational demands, which include nutrition, sleep, security and privacy.

“For me, the relationship is the most important thing,” he said.

Rather than constantly switching suppliers based on price, the club prefers to return to the same hotels wherever possible.

Familiar environments help reduce stress for players and staff travelling continuously throughout the season, he explained.

But he admitted that it’s not always possible to find rooms close to the stadiums. “We are not Harry Potter. Sometimes there is simply no hotel.”

Demonstrating his love for his job to fellow travel arrangers, he said: “If you work in tourism, you have to be passionate, because the salaries are not good.

“Our phone lines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and we spend a lot of  time in a plane or traveling, away from our friends and family, so to do what we do, you have to be passionate.”

With his Real Madrid career spanning two decades, Comino has seen managers and coaches come and go but says even those who initially try to make their mark on the club’s travel programme eventually learn to respect his expertise.

And on occasions where the teams have been forced to resort to more basic accommodation, Comino isn’t worried about complaints from the players, even those in the first team.

“These are people who play football very well, and that is all!” he joked.