Roger Allard, the former head of holiday group First Choice, said he aimed to take advantage of the investor craze for travel firms as he unveiled plans for an £80 million summer listing for his cruise firm All Leisure Group.

Mr Allard, who founded the owner of the Voyages of Discovery brand in 1997, plans to raise about £30 million, including £10 million of new capital at the listing on London's junior AIM market.

The stake in All Leisure to be sold by Mr Allard, the majority shareholder, is likely to make him a multi-millionaire for the second time. One of five founders of First Choice, he presided over the holiday firm's successful listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Mr Allard, already "comfortably well-off" according to sources, stressed that he would retain the majority of his shareholding after the float. "We are just releasing the minimum number of shares in the business," he said. "Cruising is doing incredibly well. This will allow us to acquire further ships or make an acquisition."

Mr Allard will be chairman of a listed All Leisure, which operates upmarket cruises, particularly aimed at the over-50s and specialising in trips to Egypt.

Rob Bryant, with All Leisure since 2002, will become chief executive after the float and the board features independent director Ross Jobber, a former Deutsche Bank managing director who had a 20-year career as a stockbroker.

All Leisure's broker Blue Oar will place shares in the travel firm and Mr Allard said some of the holidaymakers on its 200,000-strong mailing list might be offered shares.

Mr Allard's career in the travel industry has spanned 40 years. He was one of five co-founders of First Choice and its de facto chief executive until 1993 when he left after 20 years at the company, formerly Owners Abroad. He moved briefly in to the aviation world until 1996, when he reclaimed the Voyages of Discovery brand from its struggling owner Translist for £1.

First Choice has agreed a mega-merger with German leisure group TUI to create Europe's number one tour operator with €17 billion (£11.5 billion) of annual sales and 27 million customers in more than 20 markets.

All Leisure, which owns the MV Discovery cruiseship, made pre-tax profits of £6.25 million on turnover of just under £47 million for the year to the end of October 2006.

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