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iCal / two-way sync

iCal sync uses the shared iCalendar (.ics) format to exchange booking and availability data between calendars, and is two-way when each side both sends and receives updates.

iCal is a standard calendar file format (.ics) that many booking platforms use to publish and import availability. With iCal sync, one system exports a calendar feed of its blocked dates and another imports it, so a booking made in one place shows as unavailable in the other. Two-way sync means each system both publishes its own feed and reads the other’s, so changes flow in both directions. iCal sync is simple and widely supported, but it refreshes on a schedule rather than instantly, so there is a lag — which is why high-volume sellers prefer a real-time channel manager connection. For campgrounds, iCal is a common, low-cost way to keep a pitch or cabin in step across a website, an OTA listing and a marketplace when a full channel-manager integration is not available, though the polling delay makes overbooking a risk at peak times.

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