Views & Interviews

Q&A: Talking to Utpal R Parekh, Group CFO – Panoramic Group of Companies

July 2014

Utpal Parekh is the Group CFO - Panoramic Group of Companies, and Business Head - Buzz4hotel. A rank holder CA with more than 16 years of Senior Management Experience, Utpal has hands-on experience in the start-up of business verticals, turnaround of loss-making ventures, and enterprise wide financial management.

As a CFO, he heads the pan-India operations of the company and is responsible for the launch of business units and hotels, capital market monitoring, and fund raising through domestic and global avenues. He also oversees all merger and acquisition activity.

Let’s chat with Utpal about Pancard Clubs and what this company has to offer to its customers.

Q: Utpal, do give us a quick overview of Pancard Clubs Limited

A: Pancard Clubs is the flagship company of the Panoramic Group. Our business verticals include Hospitality & Timeshare, Travel & Tourism, Entertainment, and Information Technology – with a growing presence in India, USA, Singapore, UK, Thailand, Dubai and New Zealand.

Pancard Clubs is a pure hospitality and timeshare company offering unique holiday experiences to its members. Today we own and operate 44 hotels in popular holiday destinations across the country, tied in with business connects at city-based locations. Working at being innovative in our offerings, we have introduced several unique timeshare concepts for our members.

In the early years of 2000, timeshare was in a product entry stage with few entrants. That’s when we identified vacation ownership as an industry with a future – a format that would soon to be an integral part of the hospitality business in India. As we see things, the equation is simple - hotels need customers, and customers need value for money. In other words, we saw synergy taking root in our hospitality business.

Q: What else is unique about Pancard Clubs?

A: We have always been customer focused and working hard at gaining deep insights into the retail market. Our timeshare offerings are unique and different when you do a comparison of product lines from existing players. Take for example our no-frills product with zero recurring / annual charges – importantly without restrictions of any kind.

What we really offer is a unique concept in timeshare that gives customers the freedom to plan and customize their holidays. It’s as simple as indicating your preference for time slots and locations, within budgets that are convenient. Being visibly different goes along with our vision of being Hospitality Innovators, in the regional and global markets we are present in.

As a privilege member of the Panoramic Family, a customer benefits from a host of valued added services. This includes privilege discounts of up to 15% on food, non-alcoholic beverages and a fully loaded benefits package that bundles together mediclaim and other related covers.

Q: We hear the word “flexible” used in your promotions – what does this mean?

A: Timeshare products currently available in the market come with many restrictions and conditions linked to usage at own locations, availability of rooms, use of seasons, and so on. We cut out these restrictions and made ours a flexible offering. Our room night offers give members complete flexibility – something they always wanted, but never experienced in their dealings with resort owners. Our flexibility platform also gives customers the freedom to choose the number of room nights along with need based tenure plans.

There’s more - once you pick the number of room nights, you also have the freedom to utilize them just the way you want to - as a one-day picnic, a weekend getaway, a short excursion, a family outing, a summer holiday, your annual holiday, a pilgrimage, a company conference, a get-together with friends, a banquet, a birthday party, a family function, or anything else that you may have in mind. This is a single-point solution to a member’s hospitality needs.

Q: Are your packages “holidays without boundaries”?

A: Unlike other timeshare products in the market, with us you needn’t worry about season-linked restrictions, annual maintenance fees or the limited choice of locations or hotels. For starters, you have more than 44 properties owned by Panoramic Group across India, Singapore, USA, Thailand, UAE and New Zealand to choose from - plans are under way to add 11 more properties to this list. You also have the extended listing of affiliated and contracted hotels and exchange companies such as RCI. We also offer customers pre-contracted room nights at their favorite hotels against PCL room-night allocations.

Q: How do you inspire your people to be customer friendly?

A: We are one of the oldest timeshare companies in India with a successful track record of more than 16 years – which means we must be doing something right. Everything we do in terms of customer orientation has a focus on meeting and fulfilling the desires of customers and honoring every commitment made. Today, we stand tall in the hospitality industry having created new benchmarks in customer service and customer delight.

Remaining true to our core principles of honesty, hard work and intelligence, Panoramic is making confident strides worldwide, with a simple formula that has taken us to new heights - ordinary people doing extraordinary work.

Once again, we welcome newer members to our ever-growing family – with the assurance of hassle-free, flexible and inflation proof plans - holidays with memories that last a lifetime.

You can get more information on our timeshare plans and offerings from our travel advisors, our customer service counters and our vast network of offices in India and across the world.