The chairperson of the University of Southern Maine Tourist and Hospitality program has been selected to help Greenland prepare and shape its expanding tourism industry.

Tracy Michaud, an assistant professor, joins others representatives from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Penn State University, the University of Greenland and the U.S. Department of State in the Arctic Education Alliance, to “build vocational education programs that support training in sustainable tourism, hospitality, and land and fisheries management in Greenland,” according to USM. “The project will foster collaboration between U.S. and Greenlandic education communities and expand educational and economic opportunities.”
The work in Greenland, Michaud said, may lead to student exchanges and other partnerships with the University of Greenland.
“There are few places that feel undiscovered in the world, but for many people, Greenland is one of those,” Michaud said. “I think it is increasingly going to be a place that people are going to want to visit, especially as more and more people are looking for nature, space and fresh air. Maine’s done awfully well because of that brand. Places like Greenland and Iceland and the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic will do well after the pandemic. Also, as cruise ships journey to Greenland and larger airplanes visit, it becomes a lot less scary to travel to a place like this.”

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