Maine and Iceland share many similarities: a rural landscape; tourism as a leading economic sector; and workforce shortages. Both regions also suffer from lack of planning in the tourism sector, putting this economic driver at risk. There is much the two regions can learn from one another. Developing collaborative educational programs and research projects is a way to build the future workforce, sustain the tourism landscape, and improve the tourism industry in Maine. The investment of Maine Economic Improvement (MEIF) funds has supported specific projects aimed at accomplishing these goals: an undergraduate travel class of USM TAH students to Iceland bi-annually; joint research projects on sustainable tourism issues with the University of Iceland; a speaker series and presentations of faculty from Maine in Iceland and faculty from Iceland in Maine; and the creation of a Tourism Concentration in Reykjavik University’s Masters of Business taught by USM TAH faculty. The benefit to our students are many: connecting USM TAH students to global issues in the tourism industry; developing students’ skills as they learn in Maine and Iceland through faculty research and the speaker series; affording the opportunity for international travel where students can apply classroom learning in a global context through the travel class; and offering the option to pursue a business graduate school with a tourism concentration (something not available to them in New England) in the new Reykjavik University Master’s program collaboration.