Our History
Dehoney Travel began from a desire to fulfill the lifelong dreams many Christians expressed to our founder, Dr. Wayne Dehoney. A devoted Christian minister, Dr. Dehoney often shared stories of his travel experiences with friends, associates, and congregations. Impressed by his thorough understanding of the needs of the Christian traveler, many asked him to organize tours to visit the land of their faith.
Dr. Dehoney experienced his first Holy Land tour in 1955, and from the very beginning Bibleland Travel has been devoted to providing a spiritual and educational seminar along with sightseeing tours in the Land of the Bible. We developed a unique program utilizing expert teaching professors and the best local guides in the Holy Land. In the winter after the Six Day War when Jerusalem was again a unified city, our first annual Holy Land seminar groups traveled. Our hotels were selected specifically for their quality, location, service, and cuisine. Because of our commitment to offer the absolute finest Holy Land program possible, Bibleland Travel achieved an unequaled reputation for excellence in Christian group travel.
Responding to an increasing demand for Christian group travel to other parts of the world, the Heritage Travel Company was created to expand our service to include many other exciting destinations like Africa, Alaska, Australia, Britain, China, and more!
In 1996, Bibleland Travel and Heritage Travel merged to become Dehoney Travel, Inc. The name has changed through the years, but our mission and commitment to provide the Christian community with excellence in travel arrangements remains steadfast.
We work one-on-one with many distinguished organizations, such as the Southern Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union and the Baptist World Alliance to create unique and specialized mission tours customized for our clients. In addition, many national, state, and local groups from various denominations have turned to Dehoney Travel for assistance with their partnership mission projects.
Dehoney Travel is a member of the American Society of Travel Agents and the Ensemble Travel Group Consortium. The Israeli Ministry of Tourism has recognized Kathy Dehoney-Evitts for Outstanding Tourism Activities. In 1998, the Dehoney family was recognized by the State of Israel with a 50th Anniversary Travel & Tourism Award – given on the 50th anniversary of the founding of that country only to select partners who played a significant role in building Israel’s tourism industry.
As we continue to mourn the recent passing of our beloved founder Dr. Dehoney and his wife Lealice, we look ahead with anticipation to a bright future. This remarkable couple, married 63 years, shared a dynamic ministry and impacted countless lives worldwide. We honor their memory, we are grateful for their leadership, and we celebrate their legacy. While we treasure our past and the foundation upon which we were built, we believe our best days are yet to come.
