It was not uncommon in colonial Victoria for hotels and wine bars to be owned and operated by Italians, particularly if they had non-Italian wives.²⁷ Anna Campagnolo's ability to speak English helped Vittorio to arrange financial affairs and facilitated his engagement with the wider public. In their case, both husband and wife had complementary family backgrounds in the wine or hotel business. Prior to emigration Vittorio had been a 'vine grower', while Anna's family records show that, when she was a child, her parents had been hotelkeepers on the Murray River.²⁸ When the family first emigrated, Anna's father worked as a punt operator on the Murray River at Swan Hill.²⁹ In 1860 he took over the Lower Murray Inn after the previous licensee had become insolvent, and renamed the hostelry 'The Punt Hotel'. It was sold in 1865.

Details of Anna Campagnolo's early life in Walhalla are, at best, sketchy but, given her early family background, it is likely she had a hands-on role in running the hotel. It is not unreasonable to assume that Vittorio may have been only nominally in charge of the Alpine Hotel in its day-to-day operations and that Anna dealt with the staff and clientele. During his time as licensee, Campagnolo also had his General Gordon Gold Mining Co. interest to take him away from the hotel's daily chores. Records also show that Vittorio operated a timber tramway known as 'Campagnolos' around this time.³⁰

As hotelkeepers, Vittorio and Anna Campagnolo provided a focal point and a watering hole for Italians where they could meet and socialise, and helped draw together the scattered clusters and groups. In this way, Vittorio was a consolidator within the Italian settlement and a major player in its evolution into a cohesive and vibrant migrant community. After 1880 there are references to a few wine shops and to sly-grog shops run by Italians around Walhalla but, apart from the Alpine Hotel, no others specifically provided a decent temporary shelter for fellow countrymen.³¹ While it is unlikely that many first-time Italian arrivals would have stayed in a hotel, not all were necessarily too poor to do so. Men coming into town on weekends after several weeks in the bush looked forward to a little of 'home' and the Campagnolos provided welcoming and familiar surroundings, a meal, a beer or spirits, and a bed. The hotel was also a refuge for Italian speakers when they were sick: Stefano Balsarino died there in 1885 after a bout of pneumonia.³²

The Alpine Hotel was well promoted and became a popular venue for locals as well as visitors from outside districts. Vittorio and Anna arranged to have gold displays within the hotel building as an attraction to customers and to promote the local mining industry. Details are vague, but in May 1887 the Walhalla Chronicle reported that

We have seen some very rich quartz specimens in Mr. Campagnolo's possession (licensee Alpine Hotel). They were found at upper Moondarra by a party of Italians on a prospecting tour. They have formed themselves into a company and applied for a thirty acres lease.³³

Again, on 8 May 1891 the newspaper observed that 'rich stone could be observed at Campagnolo's Hotel from South Long Tunnel Gold Mine', found in the vicinity of 'Campagnolo's tramway'.

Vittorio Campagnolo moved between Italian and Anglo-Celtic business and social circles with apparent ease. In 1885, at the launch of Loan's new brewery in Walhalla, he was on its promotional Ball and Supper Committee of Management, although there is no record of him having had a commercial interest in the brewery itself.³⁴ He was interested in local politics and, in 1889, along with a number of prominent citizens, signed a petition supporting the election of Charles Amor as the Shire auditor.³⁵ He was also on the Walhalla Common Jurors' List of 1883-84 and 1891-92.³⁶

Campagnolo was a regular donor to charitable appeals, in particular those relating to mining accidents.³⁷ He also supported local musical events. For example, he was a subscriber to the local Mountaineers' Brass Band and made regular donations to it.³⁸

While many of Vittorio Campagnolo's business and social activities took him away from his compatriots and cluster life, strong ties remained that enabled him to become an intermediary between Italian and local interests. On occasion, he acted as court interpreter in legal proceedings. The court cases were varied and sometimes related to quarrels between Italians over money or charges of assault. For example, in January 1887 he interpreted during a wages dispute between two Italians.³⁹ Later that year, in July, he assisted in a serious assault case following a dispute over timber supplies.⁴⁰ Vittorio also defended his own interests and actively pursued debts owing to the Alpine Hotel through the courts.⁴¹

However, fortune did not always shine on Campagnolo. In August 1891, disaster struck the family. A torrential downpour, followed by massive local floods, swept through Walhalla township. The Walhalla Chronicle reported that Campagnolo's Alpine Hotel was

frightfully wrecked, not only sustaining irreparable damage from the water but the windows and doors were smashed in by huge stones and boulders of rock which were brought down with terrific force by the storm water from the gully at the back of the hotel and filled the rooms.

Locally, damage was widespread, particularly to the firewood tramlines, roads and tracks, and the district became isolated by damaging landslides. The Campagnolo family was forced to move to a house they owned just forty yards opposite the hotel.⁴²

The situation continued to deteriorate. One week later, the hotel's shell was burned to the ground and its charred remains were all that was left of 'one of the strongest weatherboard buildings and oldest landmarks in Walhalla'. The hotel stables were saved and it was noted that 'Mr. Campagnolo must be one of the heaviest individual losers in a pecuniary sense'. The building was insured for £600 ($55,000) and for £300 ($27,500) in stock.⁴³ Considering it had been valued at £1500 ($132,000) in 1888, Vittorio had grossly underinsured the Alpine Hotel and its stock, and he was to suffer the consequences. 1891 was a bad year. His interest in General Gordon Gold Mining Co. had reaped little or no profit, and in April its plant was sold to another mine.⁴⁴