Wazzamba (www.wazzamba.com), the first online virtual world to give away real-world travel prizes, has awarded its first trips since its open beta launch on January 4.  Wazzamba players Chris Mancil from Texas (Mancilicious) and Peter Matiss from California (Velocity) won GetAway Trips to San Diego and New York, respectively, and Giuseppina Gatta from Nevada (Giusi) won a DreamTrip vacation showcasing the Highlights of China, including Beijing, Shanghai, The Great Wall, the famous Terracotta Warriors and a cruise of the Li River.  During open beta, Wazzamba will be awarding up to four trips per week with January contests including trips to Spain, Australia, Rome, Hawaii and Paris. 

Wazzamba is a unique online virtual world that combines exploration with skill-based casual games to provide a rich and rewarding experience allowing players to win real world travel prizes every week.  The Wazzamba virtual world provides more than 30 explorable areas where players can learn about places, play games, and earn points to win DreamTrips and GetAway Trips in the real world. 

“It really gives anybody a chance,” noted Giusi.  “This is my first win through an online videogame and I want to encourage everybody to participate in this game, which is very user friendly, easy and fun.”

“I have to say I really enjoy playing Wazzamba as it combines travel, trivia and people in a very unique way," notes Velocity. "Winning such a great prize is icing on the cake!"

"My congratulations to our first winners!" says CEO Rocco Pellegrinelli. “We look forward to hearing back from you all after your adventures.”

Interested players can visit www.wazzamba.com to create their own personal avatar and enter the world of Wazzamba.  Players can join for free and qualify for weekly GetAway Trips or can upgrade to Silver or Gold Membership to qualify for more GetAways and DreamTrip vacations.

I wonder if they would let me win a trip from Europe to America and be the promoters of a book tour for my novel.