Custom iCal Import and Export

With the Hostaway software, you can directly connect the channels Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, Vrbo and Tripadvisor  When you use other vacation rental channels, you might wish to connect them to the Hostaway software. In order to connect these channels, you need the option to import and export reservation details by iCal.

What is iCal?

iCal links are digital files that are used to synchronize calendar events. You will find iCal import and export options in almost all digital agenda software.

Example iCal file:

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:Hostaway Reservations & Availability Calendar
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:59830ffabd147
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20151121
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:OPAQUE
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20151128
SUMMARY: (ownersdirectical) - by Hostaway
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:Phone: \nNumber of Guests: 1 \nPayout sum: 0 \nNights: 7 \nCha
nnel: ownersdirectical \n - by Hostaway
X-MICROSOFT-CDO-ALLDAYEVENT:TRUE
DTSTAMP:20170803T115850Z
END:VEVENT

In the above example, you will see that it includes multiple fields that combine event creation for your calendar days. When you are setting up your custom iCal import & Export, the fields Summary and Description are quite important as these are used to filter out unwanted blocking events. In some cases, the event details might be empty or sometimes change daily. When this happens, you cannot sync these iCals by the software.