(Posted 30th September 2025)
Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands, has announced two senior leadership appointments that reinforce the organisation’s commitment to innovation, customer-centricity, and operational excellence. Steve Ayalo has been promoted to Vice President IT Governance, Risk & Compliance and Matthew Lloyd to Vice President Marketing Technology & CRM, recognising their exceptional contributions and leadership within the business.
Steve Ayalo joined GHA in 2015 and consistently demonstrated a strategic understanding of how IT impacts both performance and risk. Ayalo has been instrumental in building GHA’s robust cybersecurity and compliance frameworks, leading the establishment of the cybersecurity operations center, threat intelligence services, and scalable IT, all while establishing governance around emerging technologies like AI. His expertise also spans data privacy, compliance, and cloud security.
In his new role as Vice President IT Governance, Risk & Compliance, Ayalo will oversee ISO certification efforts, continue to drive GHA’s enterprise IT strategy, and lead the company’s information security risk management function. He will ensure regulatory compliance across all business units and manage cybersecurity, incident response planning & testing, and overall organisational cyber resilience efforts.
Matthew Lloyd has been appointed to an expanded leadership role within GHA’s marketing department, continuing his trajectory as a key driver of the company’s marketing technology and customer engagement strategies. Lloyd joined GHA in 2018, bringing with him 10 years of travel industry experience from previous roles at Hilton and Southwest Airlines. Over the past seven years, he has led the development and implementation of GHA’s global CRM initiatives, driven data-led innovation across digital platforms, overseen D$ promotions, and played a critical role in rolling out the company’s customer data platform.
His passion for delivering exceptional customer experiences and finding innovative solutions has helped position GHA at the forefront of loyalty marketing and MarTech integration in the hospitality sector. In his new role as Vice President Marketing Technology & CRM, he will take on a broader leadership role in shaping departmental culture, championing cross-functional collaboration, mentoring emerging talent to strengthen GHA’s overall marketing capabilities.
“These appointments reflect the highly skilled team we have at GHA and our continued investment in strengthening our technology and loyalty marketing leadership,” said Chris Hartley, CEO of Global Hotel Alliance. “Both Matt and Steve have consistently demonstrated vision, expertise, and leadership that are critical to our success as we scale and innovate.”
