When you’re hot, you’re hot…and when you’re not?
The Daily Mail
Dec. 31, 2008

GREENVILLE — Greenville was billed second on a list of New U.S. “Hot Spots” as part of a trend survey conducted by TripAdvisor.com, according to a press release distributed Tuesday.

The release, however, was inaccurate.

Chris Chavez, of James Korenchen Public Relations, who sent the media alert with the erroneous list, said Tuesday night that he was not sure how Greenville ended up in the release.

Staff at the company thought the choice of Greenville was strange after they learned how rural the town is, he said.

Chavez said that he checked the hot spot list after the discovery had been made.

“It wasn’t in the top when I went back and looked at the press release,” Chavez said.

Chavez guessed that a mistake could have been made after staff discussed green living as one of the year’s trends.

According to the TravelCast Top Ten U.S. Destinations for 2009 list released by TravelAdvisor.com in October, the top five hot spots are St. George, Utah; Englewood, Fla.; Keauhou, Hawaii; Mount Pocono, Pa.; and Haines, Alaska.

Some Greenville residents were amused by the mistake and said that they could not imagine their town as a destination place of national renown.

“It’s a very small, a very nice town,” Mark Wilcox, who owns the Napa Auto Parts in Greenville, said of his community.

Visitors who do come to Greenville could enjoy majestic views of the Catskill Mountains, he said.

Like Wilcox, Mary Boyle, of Greenville Booksmith, found out her town was on the list only after it had already been removed. She said that this week, a lot of businesses were closed for the holidays.

“We’d love to be the hot spot,” she said.