Syncing bookings with other booking sources
You will need to add iCal URLs via the Outdore Owner Portal, not the Outdore App. If you are looking for a one-off import of your reservations via a CSV upload, read more here.
Introduction
You can keep availability up to date for each pitch or glamping unit across four separate sales channels with iCal (e.g Airbnb, Pitchup, Campsites.co.uk etc).
Availability is refreshed automatically hourly, and just before a guest attempts to book online via Outdore. The latter is available on every plan, and reduces the chances of double booking dramatically.
You can find iCal from a button at the top right of the reservation calendar within the Owner portal. Click this link to navigate there.
General guidance to sync availability between Outdore and your chosen sales channel(s) is outlined below.
Export links
Export iCal links contain a record of your Outdore sourced bookings and blocked availability. You must copy and paste each export iCal link into the equivalent pitch or glamping unit in each channel (e.g Airbnb) you wish to synchronise to.
After pasting an export link into the other channel, any existing bookings or blocks you’ve added to your Outdore calendar should appear immediately.
Outdore’s export links include bookings and blocks raised in Outdore, not 3rd party bookings. If you use multiple sales channels, they must have their iCal links shared with each other as well. Contact us if you are unsure how to set up iCal links correctly.
Import links
Import iCal links are the reverse of export, allowing Outdore to update it’s calendar from any external source.
Navigate to your sales channel you wish to sync availability with Outdore. Find and copy their export iCal link of the pitch/unit. Navigate back to Outdore and paste the copied link into one of the import link boxes for the corresponding pitch or unit. We recommend dedicating each column of import links to a single channel for easy management.
The details shared by other booking sources varies. Pitchup include guest name, email, phone, number of adults and children plus any special requests. Campsites.co.uk sometimes provide guest names, but most other sources only contain the arrive and depart dates and do not include any guest details.
If you can’t find the links to add into Outdore’s import columns, search Google with the following question: “Where to find my [Airbnb] export iCal link”
Conflicts
Outdore will warn you of any conflicts between existing reservations and imported bookings. Warnings will be shown within the Portal Home screen, Reservation screen, and iCal screen.
In the iCal screen, hover your mouse over the warning symbol to see the details of the conflict. You will need to either delete the block in your Outdore calendar to allow the imported iCal booking to fit the gap, or investigate the issue at the source of the booking on the synced platform.
After deleting the block or resolving the issue at the source, click the warning symbol to force refresh the iCal connection.
If the warning persists, it’s likely the channel you are syncing with is importing it’s own bookings, blocked availability, AND synced bookings. You do not want to be including synchronised bookings in your import links added into Outdore. (e.g an Outdore booking has been synced into your Pitchup calendar and Pitchup is sending our own booking back to us.) There will be a setting on the channel you are syncing with, to exclude external bookings in your export iCal links. Outdore can help if you need further support.
