Marina Schneider, head of the incoming department: With over 35-years experience in the travel industry, I am proud to say that I have been working for Biblische Reisen for 18 years and continue to do so with great pride and enjoyment. Having the opportunity to aquaint international guests with the beauty and culture of my homeland is especially rewarding. My most favorite German city is of course Stuttgart, I am the biggest fan of my hometown.
The first tour organized by the Catholic Bible Association in 1962 visited Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel. In 1971, the directors of the Catholic Bible Association and the German Bible Society, along with members of other religious organizations, founded the "Ökumenischer Arbeitskreis für Biblische Reisen e.V." (Ecumenical Working Committee for Biblical Tours). By doing so, they established Biblical Tours as a limited company. Since then, the Ecumenical Working Committee has been the sole partner. Profits that are not allocated to reserves flow to the Committee and may be used exclusively for the purpose of improving the tours (compiling travel diaries, and so on). As such, the Bible Associations are thus the supporting organizations for Biblical Tours. They regard the tours that it offers as the perfect complement to their own work, which includes promoting understanding of the bible.
The Catholic Bible Association offers a wide range of courses and publishes many periodicals, among other things. Its work is financed by membership fees, donations, and more recently by a foundation.
The German Bible Society is also responsible for "translating, publishing, and distributing the bible". It publishes the Lutheran bible and is also responsible for the "Aktion Weltbibelhilfe" - a campaign designed to make the bible accessible to every person in his or her own native language.
In 1989, the Austrian Bible Association and Bible Society approached the Ecumenical Working Committee for Biblical Tours in Germany and the existing travel service with a similar function became a branch office of Biblische Reisen GmbH in Stift Klosterneuburg (near Vienna).
Nowadays, Biblical Tours offers not just tours to the "Countries of the Bible", but also to "Historical Sites of Christianity" and the "World of Religions". Wherever our tours take us, we always try to look at the world from a biblical viewpoint: Wherever vestiges of truth behind all things are revealed …
Every year, we look after around 25,000 guests on our tours.
