Availability data can be transmitted to UA via our ical interface. We use this data:

• to show the availability in the calendar of each entry
• to allow our readers to search for available time periods

Here are the technical details about the interface:

General

We use the ical protocol (iCalendar) according to the international standard RFC 5545 -> https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICalendar.

The exchange of availability data via the ical protocol is used in the same form by many other platforms, e.g. airBNB, booking.com, fewo etc.
It is not a UA specific technical solution!
Corresponding interfaces are available for various booking software or channel manager.

ical link

For each accommodation (apartment / room) we need a separate ical link (= URL), which we can use to download the file with the current availability data. For accommodations with many apartments / rooms, it might be possibly to use data of the room categories.

The list we need for a setup on our side may look like this, for example:

Apartment 1, https://www.webseite.de/7d8c4a20caf04d15b12924433d5a0099.ics
Apartment 2, https://www.webseite.de/7d8c4a20caf04d15b12924433d5a0098.ics
Apartment 3 ...

It is necessary that we can access the links without authorization.
By calling the link, the current availability data will be downloaded as .ics file and processed by us.

We reload the availability data via the ical links every 6 hours and discard the older data.

The interface is one-directional: we receive the current occupancy data; as URLAUBSARCHITEKTUR does not process bookings, the other side does not need any data from us.

.ics file

In the .ics file we need the data of all occupied or unavailable time periods with start and end date. We need the data starting from the current date.
Each occupied / unavailable period is a VEVENT in the .ics file, the data set is e.g.:

BEGIN:VEVENT
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220520
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220207
END:VEVENT

When specifying the start and end date, there may be deviations in the syntax, but we usually can handle them. Some examples:

DTEND:20220609
DTSTART:20220608

DTEND:VALUE=DATE:20220609
DTSTART:VALUE=DATE:20220608

The .ics file may also contain other information, e.g. accommodation details (room number etc.), booking details (guest name, booking number etc.), time of check-in/check-out or data from past bookings.
All of this data may be included in the .ics file, but we do not process it.
We only process VEVENTs starting from the current date, and we only use the start and end date.

Please consider the required regulations for data protection, if the .ics file contains such data.