The city is losing yet another major tourist attraction. The Dubbo Military Museum is the largest private military collection in Australia, but according to operator Barry Ryan, plummeting tourist numbers and 20 years of apathy and hostility from the local tourist office has taken its toll. Much of the collection is now going under the hammer at auction. "I'm close to 80 and it's all become a bit too hard," he said. "When tourists come in and say, 'no-one told us you were here' - and other tourist operators tell us the tourist bureau sends them 120 to 170 buses each year, and we get none - it's tough to keep the enthusiasm up. Dubbo City Council's tourism chief, Matthew Colahan, defended the visitor's centre and said it had not favoured one tourist attraction over another. "An itinerary is prepared well in advance, and the visitor's centre is not instrumental in advising that itinerary," he said. "We have represented the Big M equally alongside all the other attractions, but at the end of day it's the client choice. We promote the menu as far as what's on offer." As for the future of the Big M, Mr Ryan will wait until the sale is over before deciding. Mr Ryan said he'd already sold some of his most significant items to Australian collectors, despite enormous interest from UK buyers, to prevent them going overseas. The Matilda tank - which is in running order and has a complete Australian-designed flamethrower - is the only complete example in the world. "When the Melbourne Tank Museum sold up in March most of it was snapped up by UK collectors," Mr Ryan said. "We targeted items we felt had to stay in Australia and pre-sold them. At auction we would have lost control and buyers with pounds are always going to beat buyers with dollars." Response to the sale has been enormous. Of great interest is the Lockheed Neptune bomber, bigger than the famous Lancaster and Flying Fortress bombers. With a huge quantity of uniforms and military memorabilia going under the hammer, lucky buyers could walk away with anything from a drop tank off a WWII Mosquito fighter bomber to a 1940s mine detector. "It's a shame it's ending this way", Mr Ryan said. "But at least the exhibits will mainly end up in good homes in Australia. "I've done my bit in preserving a huge amount of vital Australian history at a time most of it was being sold to be scrapped, now the younger generation can restore it to its former glory."