Steve Lindburg told the board during its monthly meeting that publicity about the liquor-law change has been far-reaching and could benefit the state on the eve of its summer tourism marketing campaign TV commercials. Those spots, aimed at luring out-of-staters to Utah, start running March 30.

"I think the alcohol piece has actually turned into a very strong marketing campaign - not by any design," Lindburg said.

While the legislative session was wrapping up last week, Lindburg was traveling in the Northwest. He said he read newspaper reports about the liquor-law change in USA Today, The Oregonian and the Salem Journal and also saw reports on Boise TV stations.

"The bottom line is, there's a lot of visibility that has happened in addition to the positive change in the liquor laws, and anytime we can get our name out with, I think, a positive stance is a good thing," Lindburg said.

"I think we're going to reap some benefit from that as well from a marketing perspective. So, hopefully that starts to raise awareness as our TV commercials hit the air. The timing couldn't be better."