Tractor-Shop en Country Life Tours

Arranging agricultural trips and Selling tractors

As a true farmer’s daughter, Anne-Marie Koetsruiter was born and raised on the farm. Today, she puts her background to good use as an entrepreneur with her two businesses: Tractor-Shop and Country Life Tours. It all started in 2003 when she organised a group tour to a tractor-pulling event in the USA. There was a lot of interest. Trekkerskieken was established, and employees were taken into the business. The travel schedule was expanded with tours to several countries in and beyond Europe. Some of these tours involved visits to farms, dealers, factories, collectors and major agricultural events. Other tours were country-themed trips that incorporated agricultural themes with learning about the country’s culture. In 2020, the name was therefore changed to Country Life Tours.

Unique group tours to many continents

Group tours are offered with varying numbers of participants, from 12, 22, 55 or 88 people to exceptions involving 200 people with multiple travel coaches. Anne-Marie loves the challenge of discovering new destinations such as Canada, Australia, Brazil and many other destinations in and outside of Europe. The tours are arranged according to theme: agriculture, culture & agriculture, factories, vintage vehicles and tractor pulling. In that respect, Country Life Tours has a lot to offer. And… all the tours are arranged down to the tiniest detail!

The atmosphere is always welcoming, with mostly similarly minded people interested in agricultural and cultural lifestyles. But engineering and steam-power enthusiasts are also catered to. Many participants are so enthusiastic about the tours that they return each year or book a trip to another continent. The tours are organised in-house or sometimes upon request from large dealers, tractor-pulling teams or tractor collector organisations such as the HMT, De Lange Slag, NTTO and OTMV.

Tractor shop Anne-Marie also runs www.tractor-shop.nl. During Country Life Tours excursions, she takes lots of unique agricultural merchandise with her, which she sells at a booth with her team of full-time employees and contractors. This can be anything from shirts, caps and sweaters to truck exhausts. These products are available with prints of almost every tractor brand. For large fairs and events, she takes a full trailer with her!

The future

Anne-Marie has developed a faithful customer base that continues to expand. The tours will pick up where they left off before the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to quickly revert back to pre-COVID levels.