events of the past week -- and they have nothing to do with the seizure of the Xing Da .

Jazzscape, the Brut Gold Cup and yesterday's Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out have resulted in -- or will result in -- a high level of publicity for the Island.

Arguably, they provide better value for money than straight advertising on American television and radio stations and in newspapers and magazines.

Millions of people will see the Island through the less biased eyes of commentators and participants and potential visitors may well be inspired to visit the Island as a result.

In addition, a number of people come to the Island to either participate in or watch the events as they take place, bringing immediate benefits to tourism.

This is not to say that there isn't a significant risk in hosting these events. They are expensive to promote and mount and some recent efforts by the Tourism Ministry -- notably the Bermuda Bowl and the Senior Games -- have not been overwhelming successes.

That raises the inevitable question of whether the money and resources devoted to the events is justified. Tourism will spend $500,000 on the television time for the Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out, and it spent $350,000 to promote Jazzscape this year. Government spends far less on events like the XL Open and the Brut Gold Cup, but does provide support for them.

It may be that the money spent on the Shoot-Out, which attracts a large audience when it is televised, is more worthwhile than buying television advertising time, and Jazzscape could eventually become a date on jazz fans' calendars to rival similar festivals in Newport or New Orleans, but it is hard to quantify just how many people come to the Island as a result of the Shoot-Out, and at this stage it is not possible to tell how many people visited the Island to see jazz stars -- let alone how many will come to future events.

Now actor Samuel L. Jackson is planning a celebrity golf tournament for May next year which its promoters claim will result in more publicity for the Island than any event ever staged here. To suggest that it will raise more revenue than the Super Bowl seems to be bordering on hyperbole, however.

Indeed, the one irrefutable truth about these kinds of events is that the results rarely seem to match the promoters' expectations. It may be that it is a question of having to try different sorts of sporting or entertainment events until one of them hits the jackpot. But there is a danger that Bermuda, in trying to imitate a successful event elsewhere, only ever comes up with a pale imitation of the original.

Perhaps Bermuda should come up with an event which is truly unique and will attract visitors on its own merits. Perhaps it should something which -- like Cup Match -- captures the imagination of Bermudians first and then draws overseas visitors over time. Cup Match, with its soca concerts beforehand, and other events surrounding the two-day match, might be the sort of homegrown event that with the right kind of promotion could be the greatest success of all.