Nearly two millennia before the motorcoach arrived, seasoned traveler Jesus Christ witnessed the hazards awaiting tourists venturing out on the open road. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, he encouraged travelers to treat all who they meet as neighbors and “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
The message lives through today’s Christian charter and tour operators who view Christian neighborliness as part of their journeys, if not their destinations. Three of the companies that call themselves Christian tour operators, and belong to the United Motorcoach Association, rarely travel to locations that are specifically religious.
“When we started Eagle Christian Tours it was more of an extension of who we are and how we see and value people. That has resonated deeply,” said Brett Roes, who owns the company in Rome, Ga., with his wife Becky. “It is about enjoying something with people who would most likely have the same value set as you do. Our business philosophy is loving and caring for people with the dignity that God has given them.”
Warren Micale of Master’s Touch Christian Charter Service & Tours in Prescott Valley, Ariz., says businesses are like people. They have personalities. He hopes his company draws everyone by its kindness, regardless of faith.
“Christians and non-Christians travel with us all the time,” he said. “The Christianity portion of our name is the integrity of our company. We believe we answer to God, so we strive to have the highest integrity. Our goal is to honor God by serving people.”
Burke International Christian Tours in Maiden, N.C., was founded by a couple who wanted to attract other believers by its name—meaning “people who love the Lord,” says Heather Paul, a third-generation owner. “But if someone is a Christian or not, we offer a great product.”
The late Udean and Nancy Burke founded Christian Tours in 1976.
“Because of our name, we attract a customer who is good-natured and trusts us. It works both ways. You feel safe in a group environment knowing you are with similar people,” Paul said.
The founders of all three carriers found their transportation callings while working in ministries and planning trips for church groups. Beliefs in hard work and customer respect have taken the companies far beyond the original expectations that they might buy a bus or two and book occasional church trips.
Burke Tours now fields 50 motorcoaches and more than a dozen smaller vehicles. “We charter motorcoaches to athletic organizations, colleges, schools, whoever wants to rent a coach,” Paul said. “We also provide private tours to groups.”
The company’s own tours are a small part of the business, she said, and those travel to destinations popular with all the other charter carriers, such as shopping and theater trips to New York City. “We even travel to Las Vegas. We don’t encourage gambling, but it is a city to see.”
Micale and wife Debby meandered in the bus business after he retired from the ministry. “I took a job with a bus company and started connecting with a lot of churches. I developed my own system to plan tours. Five families in one of the churches put up the money to buy our first bus in 2000.”
The company’s reputation spread to other customer bases and Master’s Touch now deploys five motorcoaches. It handles sports travel, church groups and private charters. Popular tours travel to Branson, Mo., and the national parks.
Warren, who has master’s degrees in ministry and counseling, combines his training and love of nature on tours through the parks. “I narrate tours through the Creationist point of view. I believe we are wrong if we don’t credit Him.”
On Eagle’s popular tours through the western national parks, a devotional guide is provided and the scenery is allowed to reveal the awe of creation, Roes said.
“We allow people to have personal quiet time, reading the scriptures, connecting with God and enjoying the creation as they see it through the window. There is nothing like taking a family to the lip of the Grand Canyon for the first time and making it a thankful experience in their relationship to God,” he said.
Eagle will accept delivery of its 17th motorcoach this fall. The company’s initial work with churches led to sports travel for Christian colleges across the southeast and then to trips for public schools and universities. “We have been in business six years and have doubled every year,” Roes said.
Sincere respect for your travelers is a key to success for any motorcoach company, said Paul. “There are companies that don’t have the name ‘Christian Tours’ but they offer a similar product to ours: a good motorcoach that is repaired, cleaned and maintained properly; tour directors who care about their passengers and present great information; and a driver who is safe, trained and professional.”
“This is a service industry,” Roes said. “People sense if you really care about them.”
According to the U.S. Travel Association, 25 percent of Americans say they’re interested in taking some sort of spiritual vacation. These statistics from the Faith Travel Association bear that out.
- Faith-based travel is one of the fastest-growing segments of the travel industry
- 50,000 churches in the U.S. have religious travel programs
- The average church runs six overnight tours per year with an average of 36 travelers
- More than 8 million people and 120,000 churches do camps and conferences
- Faith-based travel pumps nearly $100 billion worldwide into the tourism economy
- Religious attractions welcome nearly 330 million visitors annually
