If you manage vacation rentals at any scale, you already know the problem: guests don’t “message you.” They message your Airbnb inbox, your Booking.com inbox, your Vrbo inbox, and (when they’re on the way to the property) they’ll often default to WhatsApp.
That fragmented communication creates daily friction:
- Important questions get buried under app-switching and notification overload
- Replies become inconsistent (different channels, different tone, different answers)
- Response time slows down—especially outside office hours
- Teams duplicate work because context lives in multiple places
- And guests still arrive without reading scheduled info, asking the same questions again and again
UpMarket was built to solve exactly this: unify guest messaging and automate the repetitive parts of hospitality communication without sacrificing personalization. And now, with our brand new integration with Icnea’s Unified Inbox, you can keep all the OTA channels you already rely on inside Icnea… and add WhatsApp into the same workflow, with UpMarket’s Virtual Concierge replying instantly across every channel for fast, consistent, 24/7 guest support.
Who is Icnea
Icnea is the all-in-one property management software for professionals, offering a powerful PMS, an unlimited channel manager, and dedicated apps for external users. With more than two decades of experience, Icnea provides vacation rental managers with the tools they need to streamline operations, automate workflows, and improve communication between guests, owners, and on-site teams. Their continuous product development is driven by active customer feedback, ensuring a cutting-edge solution that helps property managers optimize both time and resources.
The real cost of scattered guest messaging
In property management, “communication” isn’t a soft skill – it’s an operational system.
When messages are split across platforms, you pay for it in:
1) Slower responses → lower guest satisfaction
Guests expect instant, helpful answers at any time of day (especially during arrival windows).
2) Missed details → avoidable escalations
A simple “Where do I pick up the keys?” becomes a 12-message back-and-forth when the guest didn’t read pre-arrival instructions, or when your team can’t find what was already sent on another channel.
3) Inconsistent answers → confusing stays (and worse reviews)
One teammate replies via Booking.com, another responds on WhatsApp, and the guest receives two slightly different check-in instructions. That inconsistency is what guests remember.
4) Time drain → your team spends hours answering the same questions
UpMarket’s Virtual Concierge is designed to take those repeated questions off your plate. UpMarket reduces guest-interaction workload significantly (with an automation rate of up to 90%).
The solution: UpMarket’s Virtual Concierge + Icnea’s Unified Inbox
UpMarket’s Virtual Concierge brings automated responses to all your bookings, and with the native Icnea Unified Inbox integration, UpMarket can now automate communications inside its Communications Hub across channels such as Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo, WhatsApp, and (soon) email.
Here’s what changes when you connect UpMarket to Icnea’s Unified Inbox:
You keep the channels. UpMarket adds the intelligence.
- Icnea Unified Inbox = central hub for multi-channel guest conversations
- UpMarket Virtual Concierge = instant, AI-powered replies that feel consistent, personalized, and on-brand
Icnea describes the result as an integrated AI messaging assistant that uses reservation and property information to deliver more personalized support.
WhatsApp becomes part of your professional guest communication stack
WhatsApp is where many guests naturally communicate, especially during travel days. UpMarket uses WhatsApp to connect with guests throughout the journey, and with very high read rates of 98%, it’s an essential channel of communication.
With this integration, WhatsApp isn’t an “extra inbox” someone checks on a phone. It becomes a structured, trackable channel alongside OTAs, while UpMarket handles the fast responses, and centralizes them all in the Communications Hub.
What the integration unlocks (practical advantages for property managers)
1) Instant replies, 24/7 – before, during, and after the stay
The integrated assistant can handle questions and inquiries 24/7 across the unified inbox channels.
That means fewer “sorry for the late reply” moments, especially when:
- guests arrive late
- flights are delayed
- check-in instructions are needed urgently
- a lockbox code “doesn’t work” at 11:30 PM
2) Consistent answers across channels (your standards, every time)
UpMarket’s core promise is consistent guest experiences through automation and a Virtual Concierge helping you deliver the same quality whether the guest writes from Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, or WhatsApp.
3) Personalization powered by reservation + property context
The Virtual Concierge has access to reservation and property information to personalize communication.
So instead of generic chatbot replies, you can deliver answers that match:
- the guest’s dates and arrival window
- the exact property rules and amenities
- local recommendations and practical info
4) Automation at scale, without losing human control
With UpMarket, you can automate up to 90% of guest communications, while still transferring conversations to a human when needed.
In other words: automation handles the repeatable work, and your team focuses on the exceptions.
5) Faster onboarding and quick setup
UpMarket offers a quick start: ready in under 30 minutes, with automatic sync of property information from Icnea to create a Virtual Concierge that understands your business.
How it works?
- Icnea’s Unified Inbox collects messages from your connected booking channels
- UpMarket connects natively to that inbox
- UpMarket’s Virtual Concierge replies instantly to common questions on supported channels
- When needed, the system can notify and hand off the conversation to a human teammate
- Guests get faster answers, and your operations stay calm—even at peak season
How to activate the UpMarket + Icnea Unified Inbox integration
Below is a practical activation checklist used by most hosts and property managers.
1. On your UpMarket Host Management Area, head to “Connect to your PMS”
2. Once here, head to your existing Icnea integration. Click on the three dots to the right, and press the “Edit” button.
3. Lastly, hit the “Import messages from Icnea” button to activate the syncing of messages from the Icnea Unified Inbox. Once this is done, you will see the messages from your Unified Inbox being imported into your Communications Hub
Why this matters right now (and what to expect next)
Guest expectations aren’t slowing down. Messaging volumes increase as you scale, and “instant support” is becoming table stakes.
With the integration, automation can extend across Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo, WhatsApp, and soon email, meaning your communications stack is moving toward true omnichannel coverage without multiplying tools.
Ready to unify your guest messaging (and upgrade your response speed)?
If you’re managing guest conversations across multiple channels and want:
- One workflow instead of app-switching
- WhatsApp added to your professional guest comms
- Instant, consistent replies 24/7 with UpMarket’s Virtual Concierge
- Less repetitive work for your team—and a better guest experience
…then it’s time to connect UpMarket with Icnea’s Unified Inbox.
Become an UpMarket client
If you’re not yet an UpMarket client, now’s a great time to take a look.
Schedule a demo and we’ll walk you through how the Icnea integration works end-to-end – from setup to real guest conversations – so you can see exactly how it fits into your team’s daily workflow.
Get started fast. Activation is straightforward, and most teams can turn it on and begin using it quickly. Once live, you’ll be able to deliver faster, more consistent guest support across channels, with conversations and context in one place and less manual back-and-forth for your staff.
Become an UpMarket client and start getting more value from Icnea with a support experience that’s easier to manage, easier to scale, and built for busy hospitality teams.
