How to synchronize a Cities Reference and Booking.com calendar

There are two ways to synchronize a Cities Reference and Booking.com calendar. This article will discuss both options.

Option A: Exchange ICAL files directly with each other

The following method of syncing your Cities Reference and Booking.com calendar together won't cost you anything, however it comes with some drawbacks including the risk of a double booking due to the delay between syncing of the two calendars which is delayed 2 hours or more. Some channels (eg: Trip Advisor) have a daily quota on the number of times its ICS file can be called. This becomes an issue if you have more than one channel calling a specific channel's calendar throughout the day (eg: VRBO, Airbnb & Trip Advisor). The chance that the daily quota is reached and the calendar no longer updates for the remainder of the day increases as the number of channels you list with go up. If you are listed with 3 or more channels, you run this risk.

Step 1: Grab the ICAL file from Cities Reference

1. Log in to your Cities Reference account.
2. Choose your rental listing you want to get the calendar for.
3. On the calendar page (should load by default), you'll see a title called Export Calendar. Copy the link you see below. This is the calendar file you need.

Step 2: Paste the Cities Reference ICAL link into Booking.com

1. Log in to your Booking.com account.
2. Click Rates & Availability at the top of the page.
3. Click on Sync Calendars.
4. Click on the Add Calendar Connection button.
5. Paste the link you copied into Booking.com's Your iCal link box, name the calendar and then click Next step.

Step 3: Grab the ICAL file from Booking.com

1. Copy the link Booking.com provides (after clicking the Next Step button from instructions above).

Step 4: Paste the Booking.com ICAL link into Cities Reference

1. Log in to your Cities Reference account.
2. Choose your rental listing you want to get the calendar for.
3. On the calendar page (should load by default), you'll see a button called Import Calendar. Click on this link.
4. Choose the appropriate source, or just select the Other option.
5. Paste the link you copied into the box and click the Import button.

Option B: Use a Channel Manager

Rental owners and managers use a channel manager like RentalBell to streamline the management of their rentals, especially if they are listed on multiple travel sites. RentalBell actively syncs multiple calendars, including Cities Reference and Booking.com, so the risk of double bookings are eliminated. By having one channel management system communicate with any particular channel, the risk or prematurely reaching the daily ics call limit is eliminated. RentalBell also manages other aspects of a rental's calendar including the availability window and preparation time between bookings. The cost is $5.99/month per rental and includes unlimited channels, analytical graphs, embeddable calendar widgets for personal rental websites, 24/7 support, and more.