iCalendar Import / Export

What is iCal

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iCalendar (ical) is a two-way synchronization of reservation dates across booking platforms.

For example, you published several rooms on Coliving Booking but also added them to Airbnb. Now the challenge is to mark them unavailable (in Coliving Booking) for the dates that are booked on Airbnb. And vice versa: Showing dates unavailable on Airbnb for bookings on Coliving Booking.

iCalendar URLs are not actually sites that you would use to display information. If you access an iCal URL directly you would see only an error message. This is ok – this is how it should function.

Why is Up-To-Date Room Availability Critical

It’s vital that your room availability is always up-to-date with Coliving Booking to avoid double bookings and cancellations!

How To Export Your iCal from Coliving Booking

To export your Coliving Booking iCalendar, copy the individual iCal url (e.g. https://colivingbooking.com/ical/?ical=ff1f35c4ca7fd121e125c8206b2eb90c9234sd) and paste it to the same room listing you have e.g. on Airbnb and Booking.com.

Click on “My Listings” and then the little “Edit” icon
Click on Calendar in the sidebar (or in the menu line)
Scroll down until you see the iCal url copy and paste it to the room on the other platform(s).

How To Import Your (External) iCal

If you are using a channel manager you most likely only need to import one iCal url. But if you for instance use Airbnb and Booking as your main platform you will need to import each iCal url from Airbnb and Booking to Coliving Booking.

Here are some tips on finding your room’s iCal URL on:

Click on “My Listings” and then the little “Edit” icon
Click on Calendar in the sidebar (or in the menu line)
Scroll down until you see the iCal textfields. Add a name (e.g. Airbnb) and the room iCal url (e.g. https://www.airbnb.com/calendar/ical/53391491.ics?s=11111111111111111111) Repeat if you use more then one platform (e.g. add also your Booking iCal and so on)

Syncing Intervals

Our system is syncing room iCals every 10-20 minutes to keep bookings up-to-date, which is crucial to avoid overbooking. Other providers have the following update times as of Feb. 2025 :

Airbnb

  • Automatically updates every 2 hours
  • Manual refresh available via “Refresh” button
  • More infos here

Booking.com

  • Real-time synchronization after changes
  • Reservations imported every minute

CloudBeds (MyAllocator)

  • General calendar channels: Can take 30 minutes to several hours

Google Calendar – Does not support fully two-way syncing, thus not recommended!

  • Up to 8-12 hours for iCal feed updates (Frequency way too low!)
  • Cannot be configured to sync more frequently
  • Pulls external iCal’s only once into the calendar!

Hostfully

  • Availability: Every 4 hours
  • Rates: Every 6 hours

VRBO/HomeAway

  • Syncs approximately every 2-4 hours
  • Manual refresh available

Important Note: Due to the varying sync times between platforms, there is always a risk of double bookings when using iCal synchronization. We recommend using a channel manager (as a master platform) for more reliable real-time iCal updates across platforms.

What is a Channel Manager (iCal Service)

Many Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Coliving Booking offer free iCal services to share their availability with other iCal-compatible systems and to import booking dates from them.

However, depending on an OTA for an additional service like iCal may not be the best choice. If there’s an issue with your business relationship with the agency that also manages your iCal services, you risk losing access to all your other agents, preventing them from making bookings for you. This could result in losing all your sales agents simultaneously.

Opting for a standalone iCal provider e.g. Accommodation Calendar as your main source of availability allows each OTA to access your availability from an independent primary source. This ensures that if one agency ceases to sell, the others remain unaffected.

If you need further assistance or have any questions about this topic, please feel free to reach out to us for support.

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