About us

Rainbow Tour Turkey is a category A travel agency properly established in 1995 in Izmir, Turkey under TURSAB (Turkish Association of Travel Agencies) by its founder George F. Keenan. George, born and raised in Boston, MA, was assigned to an American Air Force base in Izmir from 1964-1965. In 1965 he married the former Tulin Atalay, the daughter of a prominent banker and well-known family from Izmir. George had a career in Supply Logistics with the base maintenance contract from 1965-1994 until his job was deleted due to base downsizing in Izmir. After about 6 months of thinking what he should do, he joined one of his best friends Antje Korur and established the agency specifically to provide quality biblical tours in Turkey and the region. After a few years of “learning the trade”, George found that he had three of the most important elements for becoming successful in business; contacts, a vision and a little money.

The timing was right as Turkey was beginning to realize the important significance of Christian heritage “Faith Tourism” in the land we may call the Lost Land of the Bible. Turkey is only second to Israel for biblical sites and history. The church was established in Turkey and spread throughout the world starting in the 1^st century AD as Paul and other apostles and disciples of Jesus worked in then Asia Minor. George is an active Christian and has worked for many years along with other evangelical Christians. He regularly attends church and therefore leads his agency with a vision to bring many people to Turkey so that they may experience the messages of the Bible while touring the ancient sites.

George also has employed his children Lara and Jimmy, son-in-law Nusret, and daughter-in-law Olcay who have made a great team in keeping the vision vibrant. In addition to providing biblical tours, Rainbow Tour Turkey has been providing logistical support for Christian conferences and may claim to be the leading agency in Turkey doing this. While we may have worked hard in this niche industry, we always acknowledge that without God’s help, Rainbow Tour Turkey would not have had the success it has enjoyed. We consider our agency a ministry as well as a business which I believe distinguishes us from our peers. We not only know the sites and how to give quality service, we know why Turkey is important for Christians.