Ian Kenneth Sumpter

The Salty dog

Ian Sumpter with a beard and short hair smiling outdoors, wearing a light yellow polo shirt and a silver watch, standing in front of green hills and trees.
Ian Sumpter with a beard and short hair smiling outdoors, wearing a light yellow polo shirt and a silver watch, standing in front of green hills and trees.

I am an archaeologist by training, a tour guide by trade, and a travel writer and marketer by happy accident. For nearly two decades, I have been making my living by walking through ancient cities with curious people. For ten years, I was a guide on the streets of Rome, and now from Lisbon, where I write, research, and occasionally still lead the odd tour for trusted partners (Context Travel).

I’ve worked as Head of Content for The Tour Guy and The Roman Guy, and as Head of Digital Marketing for Through Eternity. At The Tour Guy, I learned my trade, gaining an understanding of the power of good SEO and CRO.

While collaborating with Through Eternity, I was able to put that learning to good use, successes included:

  • Using best SEO and GEO practices, we increased revenue from AI citations in 2026 by 1217% compared to 2025, after an already bumper increase in 2024 over 2023.

  • Led a website and blog redevelopment program concentrating on SEO and CRO, which resulted in a 22% increase in traffic and 95% increase in blog revenue.

  • Created social media strategies that led to an increase of active users of over 50% in less than six months and an increase in organic social media revenue of 23%.

  • Led the revamping and reformatting of email marketing, leading to a year-on-year increase in email marketing revenue of over 300%.

  • Led the content creation team in a successful migration from an outdated website and CRM to a fully customized WordPress site, successfully migrating over 700+ tour and blog pages in under three months.

So whether it is content creation, a full SEO audit, or CRO optimization, I have the knowledge to help. Don’t just take my word for it, check out my portfolio and references below, or get started with a free 30-minute consultation by submitting the form below.

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Portfolio

Selected Work

A working portfolio of my published articles across Through Eternity Tours, The Roman Guy, and The Tour Guy.

Through Eternity Tours

Rome-based small-group tour company. I've been associated with Through Eternity since 2006 — first as a licensed guide on the streets of Rome, now as a writer and consultant.

The Roman Guy

Italy travel blog focused on Rome, the Vatican, and the rest of the country.

The Tour Guy

Sister publication to The Roman Guy, covering Italy beyond Rome plus the UK, France, Spain, and Portugal. My author archive there runs to seven pages and counting.