By Sophie Yu and Casey Hall

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 29 (Reuters) - Trip numbers are set to reach a three-year post-COVID high during China's upcoming May Day public holidays, travel firms say.

The holiday, which begins on May 1 and lasts for five days, is a prime time for travel, with pleasant spring weather making it more appealing than the wintery Lunar New Year break.

Domestic travel in China has boomed since the end of the country's pandemic-era restrictions, but while more people are taking a holiday many are keeping a tight rein on spending amid an economic slowdown and concern about employment and wage stagnation.

Liu Xiaoting, a 32-year-old bank employee, plans to travel to Hebei, a province close to her home in Beijing.

"I'll drive with friends to Handan to visit the grottoes there," she said, adding that part of the appeal of the trip was the "minimal" spending required. "Hotels in Handan cost just 300 to 400 yuan ($41 - $55) even during the holiday. As the Chinese saying goes, we want to 'spend a little, accomplish a lot'."

The tighter budgets have led to a surge in visits to more affordable smaller cities and villages, as well as road trips and camping holidays.

BOOKING BOOM

Tuniu, a leading Chinese online travel agent, reported that as of mid-April, domestic travel bookings for the May Day holiday were more than double the same period last year.

Beijing-based travel operator UTour Group said, as of April 15, the gross merchandise volume (GMV, a common measure of online sales) on its platform had increased by about 65% year-on-year.

Travel information provider Umetrip also said that as of April 17, the number of domestic flight tickets booked for the May Day holiday was more than 3.33 million, marking a 36% increase compared to last year. International flight ticket bookings on Umetrip have risen by about 25%.

International travel, meanwhile, is dominated by short-haul routes, with Japan and the UAE both emerging as popular destinations according to pre-holiday data.

Even a warning last month from China's embassy urging Chinese travellers to enhance safety precautions and pay attention to personal and food hygiene does not seem to have deterred holidaymakers.

"Japan has long-established a reputation of being clean, mature, and safe," said Su Shu, founder of Chinese firm Moment Travel in Chengdu. "Our tourists are not impacted by the warnings, especially those who have visited Japan before."

Domestically, while metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai continue to attract visitors, county-level tourism is rapidly gaining traction.

Trip.com Group 9961.HK data shows that the popularity of searches for smaller cities has increased by 25% year-on-year, with growth rates 11 percentage points higher than in China's biggest cities.

Searches for small and remote places such as Bortala, an autonomous prefecture in Xinjiang populated with ethnic minority Mongol people, and Puer, a famous tea-producing area in Yunnan, have surged by more than 50%, it said.

($1 = 7.2747 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Sophie Yu, Casey Hall; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

((Sophie.Yu@thomsonreuters.com; 861056692136;))