Columbia State Students Take Fairview Tourism Pitch All the Way to Iceland — and It Landed

Three marketing students developed a cycling-and-rail-bike tourism concept for Fairview, then presented it to the University of Iceland — and came home with lessons that could reshape how small Tennessee towns sell themselves.

COLUMBIA — Three Columbia State Community College marketing students — Gabby Curtis of Fairview, Xavier Viazcan of Lewisburg, and Montserrat Coronado of Spring Hill — recently presented a tourism prototype called "Fairview on Two Wheels" after completing a study abroad experience through the Tennessee Board of Regents Global Studies Iceland program.The project envisions Fairview as a destination for cycling, rail bike dining experiences, and outdoor recreation, with a full marketing plan and AI-assisted website developed during the 10-week course. The students presented their concept to a class at the University of Iceland, received feedback from a tourism advisor, and returned home with a sharpened understanding of how storytelling drives destination travel. Curtis described the experience as one of the most impactful of her life, noting that seeing how Iceland celebrates its landscapes made her realize the same approach could work for Fairview.It's a clever concept — and a serious piece of student work. Whether Fairview's leaders pick it up is another question, but Columbia State students proved they're thinking bigger than the classroom.