In an attempt to attract more tourists and conventions, city officials have poured their efforts into making Chicago the leader in environmentally friendly hotels. However, with the loss of two major trade shows this week, it’s clear the city’s efforts have yet to pay off.

“The city of Chicago really shines in terms of having green hotels,” said Hanh Pham, who runs the city’s Green Hotels Initiative.

Yet that effort isn’t adding up to more convention business. Rather, Chicago has steadily lost conventions to competing cities like Las Vegas and Orlando. Both the plastics industry trade show and a leading medical trade show are relocating their 2012 meetings due to the high cost of labor at McCormick Place, the city’s convention center.

“With the economy the way it is, everybody has become a competitor,” said Meghan Risch, public relations director at Chicago’s Convention and Tourism Bureau. “Meeting planners are looking at Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and they are getting incredible deals. It’s just the nature of the business. As we continue to focus on our challenges, we are hopeful that the shows that may have decided to leave will take a look at us again.”

Through the Green Hotels Initiative, the city covered half the administrative costs of getting 14 area hotels Green Seals, an independent certification of environmental practices. Chicago now offers more Green Seal hotels than any other city in the nation, with more than a quarter of the national total in Chicago alone.

It is also home to the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza, the largest Gold LEED certified hotel in the world. That top honor is given by the U.S. Green Building Council for hotels built using environmentally sustainable materials and practices.

“It’s another plus for Chicago,” said Risch.“We are already a premier meetings and convention destination, and it certainly helps us in the ever-growing competition.”

The Holiday Inn received its Gold LEED certification in September. However, hotel management say they have yet to reap the benefits of that honor.

“If this was a 2007 climate, and we had gotten LEED certification, companies would look to green hotels more than they are,” said France Langan, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing. “Now, it’s all dollars and cents.”

The city launched the Green Hotels initiative in 2007 to capitalize on the growing trend of companies steering their travel business to green hotels.

According to the National Business Travel Association, in 2009, 21 percent of corporate travel managers said environmental practices are important in choosing a travel company. That's up from 16 percent last year.

“Were seeing an increase in the number of requests for proposals that come in citing the need for green hotels,” said Risch. “That’s part of the reason why you saw such a commitment from Chicago hotels to get audited and certified.”

Chicago’s three Kimpton hotels are all Green Seal-certified. Hotel management says that seal has boosted business from companies looking to hold meetings within the hotel rather than at McCormick Place.

“We’ve seen at least three or four meetings at the Hotel Monaco and Hotel Allegro that have been booked specifically because of our Green Seal,” said Nabil Moubayed, a Kimpton hotel general manager.

“A couple of months ago, the Center for Sustainability and Excellence held a two-day program at the Hotel Monaco. We were chosen specifically to host that meeting because of our Green Seal certification, and they are coming back to do two or three programs a year with us.”

However, the city’s diverse offering of green hotels won’t translate into increased business from convention tourists until the city lowers costs at McCormick Place, Moubayed said.

“It’s certainly another selling point to help us market the city,” Moubayed said. “But at the end of the day, it comes down to the price, and how flexible the convention center is with their unions.”

Map of all green certified hotels in Chicago:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=116764142947142506687.000478a8f0ff502671a19&z=12