Canvas and Tent Europe
base near his Brussels showroom, he is constantly on the move. His team is also highly peripatetic – working all hours on installing the tents throughout Europe, on projects that can vary from a few days to several months. It is the most significant of Marc’s projects to date that I am mainly here to see. Shortly after collecting me from Brussels station, we are on the road to Durbuy, in the Ardennes region of Belgium. Priding itself on being the “smallest city on earth,” Durbuy is undeniably picturesque; with a 19th Century castle overlooking the river Ourthe and cobbled streets filled with restaurants, bars and shops, nestling in wonderful countryside. It has always been a major tourist attraction, however in recent months the eyes of the world have focused more keenly on the municipality, due to the investment of billionaire Marc Coucke who is buying up the town building by building in order to create his adventure-nature park, which he has named ‘La Petite Merveille’.
The company has recently incorporated decking and infrastructure support such as water treatment, waste water treatment and reticulation, electrical reticulation and back of house services, in order to offer the client a single point of contact and turnkey luxury camps solutions. Despite only having established Canvas and Tent Europe two years ago, Marc and his team have already made great strides in Europe. Marc already owns Europe’s biggest Land Rover spares and 4x4 accessories supply business and expanded this to incorporate ranges of outdoor lifestyle equipment, including roof tents. This led him to find the Bushtec range of luxury, tented accommodation and take on the exclusive European distributorship. “The support from the team in South Africa is incredible,” he says. “If we have any queries, there is always someone who will help us and even hop onto a plane
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and come over if necessary. Canvas and Tent are a great company to work with.” Marc spent the first part of his working career in the drinks industry, promoting some of the biggest brand names throughout the world. With a home near Paris, which he gets to at weekends and a
Since 2016, Coucke, a Flemish businessman, along with his associate Bart Maerten, have purchased an existing Adventure Park, several hectares of forest, the Jean de Boheme hotel in the old town, along with the best restaurant and shops, a holiday park and a campsite with the aim of preserving the integrity of the town and creating a high-end resort dedicated to outdoor adventure. In fact, hardly a day goes past, when there isn’t a new announcement regarding an acquisition in the town, where only 11 people are actually still resident as original citizens. A Shaka gets the finishing touches in Durbuy