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Connect your Bókun account to sync bookings and experiences into Helm automatically. Changes you make in Bókun appear in Helm so your operations stay current without manual re-entry.

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What syncs from Bókun

When you connect Bókun to Helm:
  • Experiences and products – Your tour offerings sync from Bókun, including names, descriptions, and basic details
  • Bookings – Customer bookings appear in Helm with passenger information, pickup locations, contact details, and special requests
  • Updates – Changes you make in Bókun sync to Helm automatically, including time changes, cancellations, and booking modifications
  • Cancellations – Canceled bookings in Bókun are marked as canceled in Helm

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How sync works

Helm receives updates from Bókun within a few minutes of changes. When you create or modify a booking in Bókun, Bókun notifies Helm and the information updates automatically. The sync is one-way from Bókun to Helm. Bókun is the source of truth for booking data—if you edit booking details in Helm and then make changes in Bókun, the Bókun version will overwrite your Helm changes. For booking information like passenger names, contact details, pickup times, and tour dates, make edits in Bókun to keep everything synchronized.

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What updates automatically

After the initial sync, Helm watches for these changes in Bókun:
  • Tour times – Start times, end times, and duration changes sync to Helm
  • Booking status – Cancellations and status changes update in Helm
  • Passenger details – Customer names, contact information, and count updates appear in Helm
  • Pickup information – Location and time changes for pickups sync automatically
  • Special requests – Dietary restrictions, accessibility needs, and other requests update in Helm

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Source of truth and editing

Because Bókun pushes updates to Helm, you should treat Bókun as the authoritative source for booking information. Here’s what that means:
For booking details that need to stay synchronized across systems:
  • Customer contact information
  • Passenger names and count
  • Tour dates and times
  • Pickup locations and times
  • Booking status (confirmed, canceled, etc.)
Make these changes in Bókun, and they’ll flow to Helm automatically.
If you edit a booking detail in Helm (like passenger name or tour time) and later change that same field in Bókun, the Bókun value will overwrite your Helm edit. To avoid losing information, make booking changes in Bókun only.

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When sync happens

Syncing happens in two ways:
  • Immediate updates – When you create or change a booking in Bókun, Helm receives the update within a few minutes
  • Initial setup – When you first connect Bókun, Helm imports your existing experiences and recent bookings
After the initial import, ongoing sync is automatic. You don’t need to manually trigger updates.

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What to do if something looks wrong

If booking information in Helm doesn’t match what you see in Bókun:
1

Check the timestamp

Look at when the booking was last updated in Helm. If it’s recent and still doesn’t match Bókun, proceed to the next step.
2

Make a small edit in Bókun

Edit the booking in Bókun (even a small change like adding a note) and save. This triggers a fresh sync to Helm.
3

Wait a few minutes

Give the sync a few minutes to complete. Most updates appear within 1-3 minutes.
4

Contact support if the issue persists

If the booking still doesn’t match after 10 minutes, contact support with the booking reference number from both Bókun and Helm.

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Re-syncing from Bókun

If booking details in Helm have drifted from what’s in Bókun — or you want to pull the latest data for specific runs — you can re-sync individual events from the run details page. Click Re-sync on an event to open the sync options. You can choose exactly which fields to update:
  • Combo participants — Re-imports participant data for combo bookings (selected by default)
  • Status — Overwrites the booking status in Helm with the current Bókun status
  • Main contact — Replaces contact details with the latest from Bókun
  • Passengers — Updates passenger names, counts, and details
  • Pickup details — Refreshes pickup locations and times
  • Title and times — Updates the event title, start time, and end time
Options marked as destructive (status, main contact, passengers, pickup, title and times) will overwrite any changes you’ve made in Helm. Only select these if you want Bókun’s data to take priority.

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Self-service setup (Bring Your Own Keys)

If you prefer to connect Bókun using your own API credentials rather than going through the Bókun app store, Helm offers a self-service setup wizard. This gives you full control over your integration without waiting for external approvals. The wizard walks you through eight steps:
1

Enter your Bókun domain

Provide the domain you use to access your Bókun account.
2

Sign up as a Bókun developer

Create a developer account on Bókun’s developer portal if you don’t already have one.
3

Create a custom app

Set up a new application in Bókun’s developer portal with the credentials Helm provides.
4

Add a listing

Add your app to Bókun’s marketplace so it can be connected to your vendor account.
5

Link to your vendor

Connect the app to your Bókun vendor account and publish the listing.
6

Authorize Helm

Complete the OAuth flow to grant Helm access to your Bókun data.
7

Set up webhooks

Configure Bókun to send booking updates to Helm in real time.
8

Verify

Confirm that everything is connected and data is flowing correctly.
Each step includes detailed instructions. The entire process takes roughly 10–15 minutes. Once connected, a control center in your admin settings gives you visibility into your integration status and tools to manage or troubleshoot the connection.

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Disconnecting Bókun

If you disconnect Bókun or disable the integration:
  • Existing bookings remain in Helm – Disconnecting doesn’t delete data that already synced
  • New changes stop syncing – Updates you make in Bókun after disconnecting won’t appear in Helm
  • You can reconnect anytime – Reconnecting resumes the sync and imports any bookings created while disconnected

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Troubleshooting

First, confirm the booking exists in Bókun and is in a confirmed status. If the booking is very recent, wait 5 minutes for the sync to complete. If it still doesn’t appear, try editing the booking in Bókun to trigger a fresh sync notification.
Check that your Bókun integration is still connected in Helm settings. If you recently made changes in Bókun, allow a few minutes for the update to process. For bookings more than 10 minutes old with missing updates, contact support.
Compare what you see in Bókun to what appears in Helm. If Bókun shows the correct information but Helm doesn’t, edit the booking in Bókun (even a small change) to trigger a fresh sync. Wait a few minutes and check again.
Verify the booking is actually marked as canceled in Bókun. If it is canceled in Bókun but not in Helm after 10 minutes, contact support with the booking reference.