ZigBee (or anything on a mesh network) can reach great distances by relaying a signal from one radio to the next and the next until the signal finely reached the fare receiver.
IMHO I dont think so, but I havent done any long range comms. Bluetooth Class 1 Can Reach up to 100 meters (328 ft) if you need long range com and a simple protocol (Uses UART). To me, Zigbee seems rather complex when all you want (and need) is simple serial communication.