Eagle Christian Tours Succeeds By Exceeding Guest Expectations

By Harrell Kerkhoff, Busline Magazine Editor

There are plenty of reasons to celebrate at Eagle Christian Tours, as the charter company continues to grow in the southeastern United States and beyond. Shown, left to right, are: Brett Roes – Founder / Co-Owner; Jayden Cope – Logistics Specialist; Zak Huston – Director of Technology Services; Brandon Lindley – Fleet Manager; Richard Evans – Motorcoach Technician; Josh Thompson – Logistics Specialist; Garrett Cochran – Motorcoach Technician; Paige Elliott – Host-Driver; Aaron Brookshire – Director of Training; Fredy Guzman – Vehicle Detailer; and, Carson Roes – President / Co-Owner. (Photo courtesy of Eagle Christian Tours)

There are many aspects to group travel that can make or break a motorcoach trip — not the least of which is customer service. As the late James Cash Penney, founder of JCPenney, is quoted as saying a very long time ago: “Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.” Such belief is also part of the business philosophy at Eagle Christian Tours.

The Rome, GA, charter provider has enjoyed significant growth since its founding in 2012 due, in part, to making sure customers — known as “guests” at the company — enjoy their trip experience and are willing to come back for more.

“What has worked well for us over the years is that we don’t really view ourselves as a transportation company but rather a hospitality company. Our objective has always been putting our guests and their experiences first in everything we do,” Eagle Christian Tours President Carson Roes said. “That involves our entire workforce of slightly over 100 employees, including those employees who wash and detail our vehicles, which we refer to as our ‘Guest Preparation Team,’ and our drivers, who we refer to as ‘Host-Drivers.’ Our employees come from all different backgrounds including health care, the ministry, and food service, while a few of these people also have prior transportation experience. One thing they have in common, however, is a strong focus on customer service.

“The main objective at our company is to create an incredible hospitality experience for our guests, and we feel honored to be part of their journeys.”

Providing such hospitality has helped the company grow over the past 12 years from one used bus in the family driveway to a fleet of soon-to-be 49 vehicles and a modern facility.

“We have thrived through our faith in God, helping us create exceptional experiences and developing a dedicated customer base,” Roes said. “Displaying a heart of hospitality and employing great people have also worked out very well for us.”

He added that 99 percent of the work provided by Eagle Christian Tours is focused on charters. It includes employee shuttles, transportation for sports teams and K-12 school groups, college and university travel, family reunion and religious group transportation, civic and corporate group work, conference and convention business, and wedding-related transportation.

“Our main focus is on charter work which includes working with tour companies,” Roes said. “We don’t plan our own tours but have become a favorite with many tour operators/planners, forming some wonderful partnerships. In doing so, Eagle Christian Tours concentrates on providing an enjoyable transportation experience, while our tour partners focus on the logistics side of a trip. It’s been a great fit.”

Roes noted that Eagle Christian Tours used to be more involved in the entertainer side of the transportation business, but over the years officials realized the company was more suited for charter work. Today, travel involving entertainers is a very small percentage of trips provided by Eagle Christian Tours.

Have Vehicles, Will Travel

Located 70 miles northwest of Atlanta, the home of Eagle Christian Tours is on 23 acres of land in Rome, a Georgian city of approximately 37,700 residents in the southern foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The company’s facility includes a vehicle maintenance department, with in-house technicians capable of taking care of just about any type of service work to keep Eagle Christian Tours’ fleet operational.

“We have been blessed with a wonderful staff of people, including technicians. They are constantly taking part in training, improving their skills and working well together as a team,” Roes said. “Our maintenance department can rebuild engines and transmissions, work on electronics, conduct body work and service equipment in other ways.

“About the only thing we don’t currently have at our facility as it pertains to vehicle maintenance is a full-size paint booth. We hope to add that by mid-2025. Our key objective with vehicle maintenance is making sure that every little thing on each bus is working every time.”

Although proper vehicle maintenance is critical, it’s common knowledge that a driver can also make or break a bus/motorcoach trip. Therefore, officials at Eagle Christian Tours look for candidates with what Roes described as “a heart of hospitality toward people.”

“We can teach most people how to make great turns, drive defensively and be super smooth with the brake and accelerator, but it is nearly impossible to teach a humble heart of service to a person. That is what we look for when hiring Host-Drivers — and all types of positions,” Roes said. “When it comes to our Host-Driver training program, one side is focused on proper driving skills and the other is focused on being a great host to our guests.

“We have a team of people at Eagle Christian Tours who are constantly working on improving our company’s different systems and processes. That includes Host-Driver training. As a company, we continually strive to build upon our core fundamentals, which in turn touches every skill set within the business.”

Although hiring good bus/coach drivers has been a struggle for many companies over the past several years, officials at Eagle Christian Tours have found success in what some would consider an odd approach. They continue to raise the expectations and standards to join the company.

“It sounds counterintuitive, but we have found that by raising the standards for employment, there is now more interest among potential candidates to work here,” Roes said. “Currently, just about 2 percent of people who seek employment at Eagle Christian Tours get hired. We are super selective, which has created a culture and environment that attracts many great candidates looking for employment.”

Company officials are also very selective as it pertains to their equipment. The Eagle Christian Tours’ fleet currently consists of 47 vehicles, including 33 Prevost H3-45 motorcoaches — with two more on the way. Other vehicles in the fleet include eight smaller-size coaches and seven minibuses.

“We have been working with Prevost for 10 years and have been very happy with their coaches,” Roes said. “During the early days of our company’s existence, finding parts for the different vehicles we were operating was often difficult. It was so refreshing when we first purchased a Prevost and realized the value of being able to contact a manufacturer that would deliver any part we needed. That experience opened a whole new world for us.

“We also have found that Prevost coaches are very well made and hold their value for a long time. In fact, we still operate a used coach that we purchased from them many years ago. With a history that dates 100 years, Prevost continues to possess values that line up very well with our own company’s values. That includes being very long-term minded and not sacrificing quality for short-term gain. I have always felt Prevost puts their customers first, which is what we also strive to do every day.”

Along with providing the latest in vehicle amenities for passengers, officials at Eagle Christian Tours have started using artificial intelligence (AI) and customized software to help improve the guest experience.

However, despite today’s advances in technology, “What remains the most important part of our success surrounds the human relationships being developed each and every day between our staff and our guests,” Roes said. “Such relationships help us provide exceptional guest experiences.”

Based in the southeastern United States, Eagle Christian Tours’ vehicles can be seen across the United States and into Canada.

“The guests who we serve typically originate from the southeast, but we routinely travel all over the country. We became very comfortable traveling long distances with our tour and entertainer customers and that focus on longer trips continued as our charter business grew,” Roes said. “We love to take our guests wherever they want to go, and we love playing a part in their journey.

“What is interesting is that after participating in some sophisticated geographic market studies to help us better understand the dynamics of different travel markets across the country, we found that the Rome, GA, area is a very good place to set up a transportation company. We had no idea about that when our company was started but are very blessed to have started it here.”

Eagle Christian Tours offers charter bus and minibus rental services across the entire southeast including Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida.

Nowhere But Up

Like many family transportation companies, the road to success for Eagle Christian Tours has been bumpy at times. The business literally started at the home of Carson Roes’ parents in 2012. His father, current Eagle Christian Tours CEO Brett Roes, and his mother, Becky Roes, were involved in ministry work for years before looking for a new challenge.

“Prior to Eagle Christian Tours my parents helped run a senior ministry program that included taking care of, and operating, the program’s bus. My mom planned the tours for the senior ministry while my dad drove and looked after the vehicle,” Carson Roes said.

Eventually, Brett and Becky Roes retired from the ministry, with the crazy idea of starting a bus company on their own. One thing led to another, and with limited funds the couple purchased a used bus in Oklahoma. However, not everything went as planned.

“When my parents arrived in Oklahoma, they learned there was an issue with the vehicle’s transmission,” Carson Roes said. “My father still made the purchase, pulled out the transmission, put it in the back of my parent’s suburban, and proceeded to drive to the cheapest place they could find to fix the transmission, which turned out to be in Arizona. It took two weeks for the transmission to be rebuilt, after which my parents loaded it back into their suburban, drove to Oklahoma where the bus remained, and had the rebuilt transmission installed in the bus.

“After four-plus weeks of officially being in the bus business, my parents finally got to hear their bus run for the first time. They then proceeded to drive it to their home in Rome.”

However, more work had to be done on the vehicle before it was ready for passengers. That included extensive work on the interior, the cost of which exhausted Brett and Becky Roes’ available resources for the bus.

“My parents were exhausted after working on that bus for four months and very frustrated. At one point, my dad sat in the luggage bay and asked God for help. Soon after, he received a phone call from a local college seeking bus transportation for its lacrosse team. My dad took the offer, made sure the bus was ready, and the trip was a huge success,” Carson Roes said. “My parents ended up transporting the team for the rest of the lacrosse season, which gave them enough resources to continue the business. The result was the formation of Eagle Christian Tours.”

As with most fledging businesses, more challenges were to come. However, each time a major obstacle appeared, with the help of prayer, the company not only survived but eventually thrived in the bus transportation business.

“Fast forward today, Eagle Christian Tours has 100-plus employees and a fleet that will soon consist of 49 vehicles,” Carson Roes said. “We have grown a lot from our driveway days.”

Other family members are also involved with the company. That includes Carson’s wife, Elizabeth Roes, and brothers Christian Roes and BJ Roes.

“My dad and I are the business partners for Eagle Christian Tours. It’s been a great joy to work with him on an everyday basis. I have learned a lot from my dad,” Carson Roes said. “I joined the company at 20, a time when we had just two buses in the driveway. A lot of hard work was already completed before I came aboard, allowing me to see the company’s growth in later years. I’m very grateful for my parents, their maturity and wisdom. It’s been a great experience.”

Looking Ahead

Many good things have come about at Eagle Christian Tours since the company’s humble beginning. Despite its growth, one aspect to Eagle Christian Tours has not changed — its strong focus centered around hospitality.

“I would love for our company to win a hospitality-centered award one day, the type of award usually reserved for five-star hotels and restaurants. That would be an incredible honor, but there’s still more work to be done between now and then for us to excel to that level,” Carson Roes said. “In the meantime, we continue to strengthen our processes, our training programs, and our guest experiences. The main objective is to build more value for our guests, and to help them feel the difference when traveling with Eagle Christian Tours.”

Although challenges are always present, Carson Roes remains very optimistic about the future of not only Eagle Christian Tours but the entire North American bus/coach transportation industry.

“This industry is great for people who are willing to work hard and take care of customers,” he said. “At our company, we receive much joy in exceeding our guests’ expectations. That includes our Host-Drivers and entire staff. Doing so is very fulfilling work — day after day.

“There is no greater joy, as a transportation provider, than delighting your guests.”

Visit eaglechristiantours.com.