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Google Calendar Sync

Google Calendar Sync automatically exchanges event information between Tourism Accelerator and your Google Calendar. This integration prevents double bookings and scheduling conflicts by ensuring events created, modified, or deleted in one platform...

Hayden Zammit Meaney avatar
Written by Hayden Zammit Meaney
Updated over 2 months ago

Google Calendar Two-Way Sync

Overview

Google Calendar Two-Way Sync facilitates the automatic and continuous exchange of event information between your primary operational system, such as Tourism Accelerator, and your Google Calendar. This robust integration ensures that any event created, modified, or deleted in one platform is accurately reflected in the other, eliminating manual data entry and significantly reducing the risk of double bookings or scheduling conflicts. The objective is to maintain a single, consistent source of truth for your availability and appointments, streamlining your operational workflow and enhancing efficiency for your organisation.

Accessing This Feature

To enable and configure Google Calendar Two-Way Sync, navigate through the following path within your Tourism Accelerator account:
​Settings > Integrations > Calendar Sync > Google Calendar

Using This Feature

The Google Calendar Two-Way Sync ensures that your calendar data is consistently updated across both platforms. Follow these steps to set up and manage your synchronisation:

  1. Initiate Connection:

    • From the "Calendar Sync" section, locate and select the "Google Calendar" option.

    • Click "Connect Google Account." You will be redirected to Google's authorisation page.

    • Sign in with the Google account you wish to synchronise. This account should be the primary one managing the calendars relevant to your operations.

    • Grant Tourism Accelerator the necessary permissions to view, edit, share, and permanently delete events from your calendars. This permission is crucial for two-way synchronisation to function correctly.

  2. Select Calendars for Synchronisation:

    • Upon successful authorisation, a list of your Google Calendars will appear.

    • Choose the specific Google Calendar(s) you wish to synchronise with your Tourism Accelerator schedule. For instance, you might select a calendar dedicated to bookings, staff shifts, or resource availability.

    • Map each selected Google Calendar to the corresponding calendar or resource within Tourism Accelerator. This ensures events are correctly categorised and displayed.

  3. Configure Synchronisation Settings:

    • Event Creation: Specify how events created in Tourism Accelerator are displayed in Google Calendar, and vice versa. This typically includes event title, description, start/end times, location, and attendees.

    • Event Modification: Confirm that changes made to an event (e.g., rescheduling, updating details) in either Tourism Accelerator or Google Calendar will propagate to the other system.

    • Event Deletion: Ensure that deleting an event in one system removes it from the other.

    • Conflict Resolution: Understand how the system handles potential overlaps. Generally, the system prioritises the latest change or flags conflicts for manual review, though with two-way sync, prevention is key.

  4. Activate Synchronisation:

    • Review all your selections and configurations.

    • Click "Save Settings" or "Activate Sync." The initial synchronisation process will commence, populating both calendars with existing events.

  5. Verify Synchronisation:

    • After the initial sync, create a test event in Tourism Accelerator and verify its appearance in your Google Calendar.

    • Create a test event directly in your Google Calendar and confirm its appearance in Tourism Accelerator.

    • Modify and delete these test events in both systems to ensure changes are reflected accurately in the other.

Once activated, the system will continuously monitor both calendars for changes, ensuring real-time updates without further manual intervention.

Key Capabilities

The Google Calendar Two-Way Sync offers several critical capabilities to enhance your operational efficiency:

  • Real-Time Event Synchronisation: Instantly reflects new bookings, appointments, and schedule changes across both Tourism Accelerator and Google Calendar, ensuring all stakeholders have access to the most current information.

  • Bidirectional Event Management: Allows for the creation, modification, and deletion of events in either platform, with changes automatically pushed to the other, maintaining consistency.

  • Availability Management: Provides an accurate overview of your availability by consolidating all commitments from both systems, preventing overbooking and scheduling conflicts.

  • Detailed Event Mapping: Supports the synchronisation of comprehensive event details, including event titles, descriptions, dates, times, durations, locations, and attendee information.

  • Optimised Resource Allocation: Enables better management of resources (e.g., staff, equipment, venues) by centralising their availability and scheduling information.

  • Enhanced Communication: Facilitates seamless internal and external communication regarding schedules, as all team members and clients can view consistent calendar data.

Best Practices

To maximise the effectiveness and reliability of your Google Calendar Two-Way Sync, consider the following best practices:

  • Designate a Primary Google Account: Use a dedicated Google account for your organisation's calendar integrations. Avoid using personal accounts to maintain professional separation and simplify management.

  • Regularly Review Sync Settings: Periodically check your synchronisation settings within Tourism Accelerator to ensure the correct calendars are linked and the desired fields are being synchronised.

  • Understand Sync Frequency: Be aware of the synchronisation interval. While largely real-time, there might be a brief delay for updates to propagate fully across both systems.

  • Avoid Manual Duplication: Once two-way sync is active, refrain from manually creating events in one system that already exist or are being managed in the other, as this can lead to redundancy or minor conflicts.

  • Monitor for Errors: Keep an eye on any synchronisation error notifications that may appear within Tourism Accelerator. Address these promptly to ensure continuous data flow.

  • Communicate with Your Team: If multiple team members manage calendars or bookings, ensure they understand how the two-way sync functions and the implications for event creation and modification.

  • Utilise Distinct Calendar Colours: In Google Calendar, assign unique colours to events originating from different sources (e.g., Tourism Accelerator bookings, internal meetings) to visually distinguish them.

  • Test After Major Changes: Following any significant changes to your calendar structure, Google account, or Tourism Accelerator settings, perform a quick test to confirm the sync is still functioning as expected.

  • Maintain Google Account Permissions: Ensure the connected Google account retains the necessary permissions for Tourism Accelerator to access and manage your calendars. Revoking permissions will disrupt the sync.

Support

For any assistance or further questions regarding Google Calendar Two-Way Sync, please contact our support team: [email protected]

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