Jamaica was arguably snubbed in the Hollywood film Knight and Day as the delicate beach scene wasn't identified as belonging to the island despite explicitly identifying other locations as in USA, Spain, Austria and Chile, which would have aided Jamaica's tourism recovery following the recent social unrest.

Film stakeholders say it's unfortunate that tourism won't directly benefit but maintain that the film industry has benefited.

"The truth is if we want Jamaica's name blasted on screen we need to do it ourselves and have more local films," said Brian St Juste head of Apex Productions and the Jamaica Film and Video Producers' Association.

"The bigger thing that came out of this movie is the spend, the crew experience and the public relations."

Jampro's film commissioner Kim-Marie Spence added that Hollywood insiders will see the credits listing Jamaica even though most movie goers would not which will result in future business opportunities.

"It would have been great for them to call the name Jamaica, but we can't determine the script. If we want more name calls then we have to support the local film industry," she said following the movie's screening on Wednesday and subsequent conversations on Thursday.

Part of government's strategy is for Jamaica to be doubled as a film destination and also a site for generic filming. "The reality is that Lord of the Rings didn't say 'New Zealand' in the film but it was filmed there. Similar to Knight and Day. It is up to Jamaica to make use of that opportunity."

The country earned US$1.5 million in one week from the film's Jamaica leg which was shot in Portland. The scene in Jamaica lasted about 10 minutes of running time. During which US actors Tom Cruise and Carmen Diaz jumped into the sea to an avoid aerial attack which bombed an island the size of a golf course. The location was never identified in text or verbally as an island off the coast of Jamaica. Even though verbal and typographical indicators were used for the preceding scene in New York and subsequent scenes in Austria and Chile and Spain. At the showing on Wednesday screams arose during the first images of coconut trees and blue sea but quietened when no text or dialogue alluded to the island's location.

Knight and Day is an action comedy film directed by James Mangold. The plot surrounds Cruise who becomes a rogue CIA agent in an attempt to rid the agency of a corrupt agent and in the process clear his name. The corrupt agent, John Peter Sarsgaard plots to sell a classified self-perpetuating power cell to Spanish dealers but is intercepted by Cruise who steals the power cell and uses Diaz as a courier. Jamaicans who worked on the set present at the screening acknowledged that they benefited from the Hollywood exposure.

Production accountant, Steve Biko Armstrong stated that industry would benefit going forward: "Fox films informed other filmmakers of the shoot in Jamaica and it is just the layman who wouldn't know. That is the only disadvantage."

Set grip Cleveland McKenzie added: "It was a wonderful scene with a nice beach in the background. The country overall will benefit from the technical experience."

"The Jamaica scenes looked nice and it is action packed and high paced," said Simon Packer production assistant and former Wolmerian. "The movie will do well. It will be a blockbuster."

Last month, tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett estimated that the loss incurred by the tourism sector, resulting from the civil unrest in which the security forces and gunmen from Western Kingston, loyal to Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, were locked in firefights for two days, to be up to US$350 million. As a result the ministry this month launched a massive "promotional and advertising campaign" estimated to cost Government an additional US$10 million, to counter the negative image portrayed globally and woo visitors to the destination once again. The film could have filliped government's efforts to counter the negative images if explicitly linked to Jamaica.