How to Connect a Channel Manager to Airbnb

Connecting Airbnb to your channel manager takes 5 minutes per listing. Once connected, your Airbnb calendar syncs with Booking.com, Vrbo, and your direct booking widget — preventing double bookings across all channels.

How to export your Airbnb iCal feed

1. Go to your listing's calendar

Log into airbnb.com → Your Listings → select your property → Calendar.

2. Open Availability settings

Click on the calendar settings (gear icon or "Availability" tab). Scroll down until you find Import/Export Calendars.

3. Copy the Export Calendar URL

Click Export Calendar. Airbnb will show you a URL that looks like:

https://www.airbnb.com/calendar/ical/12345678.ics?s=abc123def456

Copy this entire URL. It's your property's live calendar feed. Don't share it publicly — anyone with this URL can see your booking dates.

How to connect it to your channel manager

4. Add Airbnb in your channel manager

In BookBed (or your channel manager):

Go to Channel Connections
Click Add Channel → Airbnb
Paste the iCal URL
Map to the correct property
Save

5. Import your channel manager's feed into Airbnb

For two-way sync, you also need to import your channel manager's calendar INTO Airbnb:

In your channel manager, find the iCal Export URL for this property
Go back to Airbnb → Calendar → Import/Export Calendars
Click Import Calendar
Paste your channel manager's iCal URL
Name it (e.g., "BookBed" or "Channel Manager")
Click Import

Airbnb will now poll your channel manager's feed and block dates that are booked on other platforms.

Test the connection

In your channel manager, block a test date (e.g., tomorrow)
Wait 2–5 minutes (Airbnb imports typically refresh every 3–10 minutes on their end)
Check Airbnb's calendar — the date should show as blocked
Unblock the date and verify it clears on Airbnb

If dates don't sync, see the troubleshooting section below.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
Airbnb iCal URL doesn't work	URL may be truncated or expired	Re-export from Airbnb — URLs occasionally change
Dates sync from Airbnb → channel manager but not the reverse	Missing import step	Make sure you imported your channel manager's feed INTO Airbnb (step 5 above)
Sync takes a long time	Airbnb polls imported feeds every 3–10 minutes	This is Airbnb-side; your channel manager's direction (Airbnb → CM) is faster
iCal shows "Reserved" without guest details	Normal for iCal	iCal only transfers dates, not guest data. This is expected behavior.
Multiple Airbnb listings but only one syncing	Each listing has its own iCal URL	Repeat the export process for each listing

Use our iCal Feed Checker to validate your Airbnb feed.

Important notes

Airbnb's iCal refresh rate for imports: When Airbnb imports an external calendar (your channel manager's feed), it polls approximately every 3–10 minutes. This means changes from your channel manager may take up to 10 minutes to appear on Airbnb. Your channel manager's polling of Airbnb's feed is typically faster (60 seconds on BookBed).

Multi-listing hosts: Each Airbnb listing has its own iCal URL. You need to export and connect each listing separately. There's no bulk-export option.

Co-hosts: If you're a co-host (not the listing owner), you may not have access to the iCal export. Ask the listing owner to share the iCal URL with you.

Frequently asked questions

How often does my channel manager check Airbnb's calendar? Depends on the tool. BookBed checks every 60 seconds. Some tools check every 5, 15, or 30 minutes. Faster is better for preventing double bookings.

Can I connect multiple Airbnb listings? Yes. Each listing has its own iCal URL. Add each one separately in your channel manager.

Will this affect my Airbnb search ranking? No. Using iCal sync with a channel manager doesn't affect your Airbnb ranking in any way.